


Crowned with sins

by Cloudyjongho



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Bottom Choi Jongho, Crown Prince Park Seonghwa, Dreams and their meanings, Dreams telling future, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hwarang time, Joseon Dynasty, M/M, Prince Choi Jongho, Royalty, Smut, Top Park Seonghwa, kings - Freeform, of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:22:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27061144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudyjongho/pseuds/Cloudyjongho
Summary: Being the second prince of Jamjari wasn't too bad. Jongho had a loving father and big brother, a castle as the roof on top of his head, a beautiful garden and an equally beautiful kingdom. He had what the others could only dream about.But everything comes with a price, right?The price can be anything. But never in his life would've Jongho thought that the price he needed to pay was throwing himself to an endless spiral of feelings towards the crown prince of Seori, Park Seonghwa.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 65
Kudos: 123





	1. The ruthless nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> I mixed Joseon dynasty and the western middle ages to have this universe! Keep that in mind🥰
> 
> Enjoy.

It was dark, almost too dark to see properly. Jongho was standing at the edge of the forest behind their castle, his back pressed against a tree. He tried to hold his breath but his heart was beating too fast. Three men stood in the shadows of a huge bush and talked with hushed voices.

The air felt very tensed, and a bit dangerous. Fog coated the whole garden, making the scenery very eerie, much more than was likable. Jongho pressed himself better against the tree, not caring if his pajamas got dirty. He had to hear the men properly.

"They're coming. They're coming and I know nothing good will follow if they get here." One of the men spoke up and threw the two other men a glare, who just eyed him with narrowed eyes.

Who was coming? Jongho glanced at the castle, gulping. Was something threatening his kingdom?

"What can we do? They have the crown prince. They have the king. They're friends with us." Another man commented.

"The stars told me. The bloody stars told me that the future will change if we don't stop them from coming!" The first man hissed angrily.

"What? What did your stars say?" The second man mocked, clearly frustrated of the situation.

"They- They-"

A sound of a slap. Jongho flinched too, and shivered. His heart was hammering loudly.

"The kingdoms will become one! Something forbidden, something sinful is going to happen!" The first man exclaimed franctically.

"No one believes your stars." The second man scoffed.

"What do you mean?" The third one asked, clearly a bit interested.

Jongho watched as the first man was pushed to the ground.

"I can't tell you more!" He half-yelled from the ground.

"You're a fortune teller, you tell us what you know. This is going destroy us." 

The fortune teller scrambled up and straightened his back.

"Forbidden love. There, you have it." He said and dusted off his clothes, glaring at the two other men again.

Jongho was close enough to see but not close enough to recognize faces. They were all dressed in black hanboks, and shadows fell on their faces, almost blurring them.

Jongho's first thought was to go tell someone. But he was a mere prince, he had no power in anything, unlike his crown-prince brother. He was known for reading and singing all day, he was known for writing romantic stories but never letting anyone read them. He was known for his imagination, it was out of this world. He could make up countries, places, humans and kingdoms, just like that. Who would believe him if he said he had heard this?

The three of them started walking away. Jongho waited for a few seconds so they were a bit farer away, and began following them. He walked as quietly as he could, keeping a safety distance between the men and him. The men continued farer into the castle's garden. How had they even gotten there? Where were the guards?

Now that Jongho looked at the castle properly, it was completely dark. The rooms that were usually lighted up with gorgeous chandeliers made of crystals were pitch black, no light coming out. Jongho furrowed his brows, and turned to search for his room. 

His gaze wandered on the wall of the castle. He almost let out a yelp when the spot his windows should be at was completely empty. His windows were gone. 

The men had stopped walking, but hadn't turned around. Jongho began fearing for real now.

The garden had been full of torches, but they had been blown off. The horse stable, which was always lit up, was also dark. 

Jongho took a few steps backwards, his insides twisting uncomfortably. Shivers ran down his spine and the hairs on his arms stood up. This couldn't mean anything good. One of the men turned his head to the side, and looked at Jongho. He felt his legs tremble a little.

He needed to go. 

Jongho turned around and began running back to the castle, his shoes throwing up small rocks from the strength he ran. He didn't get far. He was blocked by an invisible wall. 

Jongho knocked his forehead against it and fell to his ass, letting out a yelp at the pain. Something stopped him from going back.

When he looked at the castle again, it didn't look like it was supposed to do. The walls were now dilapidated, full of mold and had signs of some kind of damage that had almost torn the whole wall down. Jongho gasped, his heart jumping to his throat and blocking half of his windpipe. He scrambled up and turned around, eyes wide and fear covering his whole mind.

The three men stood right in front of him, watching him with emotionless faces. Jongho screamed. 

Something grabbed him from his ankle and he kicked, trying to look for a way out. The men came closer, step by step, and Jongho began to feel cornered. His throat felt blocked, he couldn't get air, and his mind was fully covered by fear, as if that was everything inside his head.

The men were way too close. They were barely an arm-length away from him, so he took few small steps backwards. 

His back knocked into something sturdy but not too hard. Jongho stared at the men, his chest rising quickly.

It took him a while to realize that he thing pressed against his back was moving. But before he could move a muscle, a hand was pressed against his mouth. Jongho screamed again, his hands automatically shooting up and trying to pry off the hand, but it was strong and didn't budge.

"Shh. You'll only hurt yourself if you run away." A low and deep voice whispered straight to his ear, hot breath tickling it.

Jongho screamed again.

The men were getting closer, second by second. Panick filled Jongho's mind and he trashed, tears filling his eyes. He was going to die. 

The faces of the men started changing. They went from very innocent-looking facial features to absolutely demonic ones. Pointy, long fangs poked out of their mouths as they began laughing manically. Their eyes turned from very dark brown to completely white or black, and the fortune-teller man extended a hand towards Jongho's neck. The nails had changed to black claws that were knife-sharp. If they touched Jongho's skin, it would tear open nicely like a piece of perchament.

Jongho trashed, trashed and trashed. He kicked and twisted, but the grip the man behind him had of him was too strong.

The hand was few inches away from him. The tears threatened to leave his eyes and fall down his face, and he pushed himself against the man behind him as well as he could, shrinking to himself.

When the hand was only few millimeters away from his neck, the man behind him spoke up again:

"Nothing will ever hurt you if you're with me."

That's when Jongho woke up, screaming.

He sat up, heaving for air, and pressed his palms against his sweaty forehead. 

That was one hell of a nightmare.

Servants rushed into his room, looking franctic, until they saw Jongho sitting on the bed as one piece.

"Your Highness, are you alright?" His main servant, Youngjae, asked.

Jongho just nodded, letting out a shuddering breath.

"Yes. Thank you, Youngjae." Jongho answered, giving the older man a small smile.

"Are you going to sleep more, Your Highness? Or do you want to eat now?"

"I'll come eat after a few minutes, if that's okay."

Youngjae bowed, leaving with the other servants, and Jongho just let himself fall back to the bed. His heart was still beating fast, and he couldn't get the demonic faces out of his mind. What on earth was that nightmare?

Humanminds were really capable of making up very disturbing things.

Jongho wasn't a very superstitious person, he was more of a card-reading one, but that dream made him question everything. He would need to visit the library today, just to search for things about dreams. He wanted to know what was going on.

He often saw dreams, but usually they weren't anything weird. He used to read a lot about dreams, but quit after his older brother Junhong scolded him pretty badly about it.

He and Junhong were complete opposites. Junhong was all about muscles, sports, power and masculinity. He wanted to be remembered as a good fighter and a manly man, whereas Jongho liked reading, singing, writing and playing instruments, and of course not forgetting styling hair. Youngjae let Jongho cut his hair every now and then when it became too long, and his father also! He was a bit weak for Jongho, but the prince was really talented, so he let his second and at the same time youngest son cut it, even if he had literal servants just for cutting and styling his hair. Jongho also hated violence and absolutely despised when he had to practice fighting with a sword. Maybe it was a good thing Junhong was the crown prince, not Jongho. 

Jongho sighed and stood up from the bed straight to his slippers, and took his today's outfit Youngjae had picked for him. He could already see the scowl on the head-servants face when he would see Jongho dressing up by himself, but he just really liked not being taken care of THAT much, especially not in the morning.

Jongho kicked off his pajamas and pulled on the pants before putting on his shoes and taking the long blouse-like hanbok shirt. The sleeves of the shirt were very wide, wide enough to touch Jongho's food if he wasn't careful enough. The blouse came all the way to the lowest part of his thighs, and was a wraparound one, so he took the left side of it and carefully placed it on his chest, so it came across it from the left side down to the right side, before he tied it on his right side with small difficulties. 

After that he pulled on the long, vest-like mint-colored shirt that was a lot longer than the blouse. The blouse needed for this vest was shorter than the ones Jongho used when the the vest wasn't a wraparound one that covered his chest, but an open vest.

He was having problems with it when Youngjae walked back in, let out a dramatic gasp before he rushed to Jongho, who just smiled and rolled his eyes.

Youngjae wrapped the long vest the same way as Jongho had wrapped the blouse, from the left shoulder to the right side, before he grabbed the wide belt and placed it on the narrowest part of Jongho's waist, tying it behind his back so it held the vest on top on its place.

"You were trying to dress without me. Again." Youngjae scolded him.

"I'm sorry." Jongho apologized, smiling at the servant, who tried to be mad.

"Atleast let me do your hair and put on your headband."

Jongho sat down on the chair and let Youngjae open his long, light brown hair. His hair was almost always on a sleek, high ponytail with the lower part of the hairs just falling down his back, but sometimes he put it on a bun or just let it all fall normally. Now, Youngjae was brushing the top part of his hair up again, and tied it to a tight ponytail. 

Youngjae put his mint-colored headband on his forehead, covering his hairline, and put another one to the place where the ponytail began. They both had a silver decoration in the middle, which looked a bit like a flower. The hairs that were falling down normally almost reached the middle of his back, the ponytail being a bit shorter.

Jongho looked to the mirror, and smiled at Youngjae, who was smiling at him.

"Thank you." 

"My pleasure, Your Highness. Now go; your father and brother are still waiting for you." Youngjae answered and patted Jongho's shoulder.

Jongho stood up, admiring his beautiful clothes before bowing to Youngjae who scowled again (princes weren't supposed to bow to servants, but Jongho absolutely adored Youngjae) and continued down the hall. Long forgotten was the nightmare when the guards opened the massive mahogany doors and Jongho stepped in, earning all eyes on him.

"Good morning, Jongho." The current king and Jongho's father, Choi Jongseok, greeted him.

"Good morning father, brother." He greeted, giving a small smile to his big brother, who nodded.

He and Junhong were really different, but got on very well. Junhong had to act a bit differently than Jongho since he was the crown prince, but it didn't really make a difference. They were closer than what people would think, and they really loved each other. That was the most important thing. Junhong tended to be a bit overprotective of Jongho, but who could blame him? This young boy who loved arts and reading was his only brother.

Jongho sat down and picked up his chopsticks, choosing different kinds of food from the bigger plate to his own before he dug in.

"Did you sleep well?" His father asked, smiling softly and fondly at him.

"I did, except for one small nightmare. What about you?" Jongho answered.

"I did sleep well as well, thank you for asking, darling. What kind of nightmare? Was it bad? Do you want to visit Jung Daehyun for it?" Jongho's father asked, a wide smile on his face. When he smiled, his eyes crinkled up. 

Jongho shivered on the inside for even mentioning visiting a fortune teller. He would need to stay away from them for a while, atleast until he got over the nightmare that now took over his brains again.

"No need, father. I'll just go study in the library and search for the meaning." Jongho answered.

"Alright, my wise son." His father smiled. Jongho was very lucky, his father thought reading was good for Jongho. Some other king would've probably forced him to stop.

"Jongho, shouldn't you meet up with Youngguk instead? You promised me to do fencing with him this week," His brother, Junhong, spoke up.

Jongho couldn't help but let the pout fall on his lips. It was his way out of the situation.

"I'll meet with him tomorrow, okay? I just want to study and draw today. Maybe Youngjae would let me cut his hair again."

His father smiled at both of his sons he loved a lot.

"I think that's a good compromise. But Jongho, remember your archery session today. It's important. Junhong too, you have martial arts."

Their father was a very down-to-earth person, and he absolutely cherished Jongho and Junhong. He was a king, but kept up with the activies his sons had.

"I will, father."

The rest of their breakfast went on calmly, the three of them discussing about the latest news and gossips Jongho had heard, which had his father laughing and Junhong rolling his eyes and telling Jongho to learn how to fight instead. His brother really was overprotective, but kind.

Jongho sat down on a chair in the library after gathering a lot of books about dreams, and sighed. Time to work.

"Overhearing a conversation: If you overhear a conversation, it's usually about something that someone else thinks and you find bitter to accept." Jongho read out loud. That didn't really answer any of his questions.

"Being trapped in a dream means that you feel emotionally trapped in some way during your life. It can be family traditions or something you have found negative before." 

That couldn't be it, could it? 

It couldn't be about the fact that Jongho never liked princesses but the handsome knights and princes. Jongho gulped, quickly skipping to the next page. He wasn't ready to start doubting himself again.

"If someone is holding you down in your dream, it indicates that a person in your life is stopping you from doing something." Jongho read, furrowing his brows. That didn't make sense.

He had been held down by a person behind him. But no one was really holding him down in real life? He had nothing he wanted to do beside pursuing arts.

"However, if you are being held not violently, but rather gently by a person who you don't know, it usually means you crave for touch. And you'll find it, you'll find love." Jongho read out loud.

Had he been held gently? He had been silenced with a hand, but the person had warned him about running away. Was it the bad or good way? But how did finding love have anything to do with the conversation the three men had had? In the end, the person had mentioned that Jongho would never get hurt with him. What on earth?

"Dreaming about a broken house usually reflects your life being threatened. If your dream has fog, it can be linked to hidden truths."

That linked up well with the things the three men had talked about. Their conversation had been meant to be hidden from another people, but for some reason Jongho had heard it. The kingdom was in danger, so Jongho's life was too. 

But why was the danger forbidden love?

It was becoming very scary now. The nightmare was still fresh in his mind, fresh enough to keep him shivering every now and then when he thought about it. But he couldn't just belittle that conversation, their voices had had something so genuine in them that Jongho actually believed in it. But as much as he knew, no one was coming to their kingdom in months, so he might not have the answer in a long time. 

But if he was in danger, he had the knights, he had Master Youngguk, he had his father and Junhong, who would keep him safe. He wouldn't need to worry. This kingdom could protect him as he was the youngest prince. 

But the nighmare didn't leave his mind. It just didn't. He saw it all over again in his head, he heard the conversation over and over. Maybe his father was right, he should visit the fortune teller for this. But it felt so scary, as if all fortune tellers were the same one person. Jongho shook his head.

After spending another hour in the library to check for anything that was related to his dream, he finally stood up and groaned, stretching his muscles. He had to get going so he wouldn't be late from his archery session, he didn't want to get scolded again.

Jongho walked out of the library, not forgetting to blow off the candles. He walked down the hallways, greeting a few of the knights before he finally got outside. 

He let his eyes wander through the entire yard, because his brains had become paranoid and he looked for the three men. The garden was completely empty if Jongho and the gardener weren't counted. He continued down the yard towards the horse stable, where he could already see Youngjae standing with two horses. 

"You're on time, Your Highness!" Youngjae teased when he reached the two of them.

"Looks like I am, Your Excellence." Jongho said smugly, earning a scowl from the servant.

"What have I said about calling me 'your excellence'?" Younjae scolded him.

"The same I have said about calling me Your Highness," Jongho commented, taking his horse's reins, placing his feet on the stirrup and pushing himself up and sitting down in the saddle. 

Jiseon was Jongho's completely own horse he had begun riding with when he was a small child. Jiseon was a gorgeous and tall, dark brown stalliod, who feared nothing. 

Youngjae was ready too, and the two of them began moving towards the archery field, their horses walking lazily. Jongho preferred doing archery with horses since it was more difficult.

"Here's your bow, Your Highness."

Jongho accepted it, and took the arrow bag as well before putting it over his shoulder. 

"Alright boy, are you ready?" He asked Jiseon, and patted his neck twice before he pressed his heels to Jiseon's sides and stroke off to canter, circling around the field a bit before letting go of the reins. He inserted the arrow, pulled the drawstring as back as he could, closed his right eye and aimed. 

He let the string go and watched as the arrow flew through the air almost too fast for human eye to see, and hit the target. Not a bullseye, but not too far from it.

Jongho had done archery ever since he was a small child. It was the only 'violent' sport he actually liked doing, but using it in a fight didn't sound good. He had to be far enough for it to be actually effective.

Jongho did another circle and shot the arrow, this time it hitting the bullseye.

Third time, he did a lot longer loop and just enjoyed riding. He saw another servant run there, but didn't pay any attention to it. 

He pulled the drawstring back, closed his right eye and concentraced again, the time slowing around him. He got ready to shoot. His index finger was the only thing keeping the string back, and he almost let go-

"Your Highness needs to meet His Majesty immediately! King Sangwook and and Crown Prince Seonghwa from Seori are coming tomorrow!"

At the same moment Jongho flinched and let the string go, the arrow flying through the air again.

And for the first time in years, Jongho missed the target completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to my 7th jonghwa!
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/cloudyjjongie?s=21) and [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/Cloudyjongho)


	2. Black, sharp eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The king and crown prince of Seori arrive.

Youngjae was tying the wide, burgundy coloured belt which was made of some silky material around Jongho's waist, finishing up the whole look. The king and crown prince of Seori, the Parks, were coming in a few hours, and everything was chaotic.

Servants were cleaning the guest rooms like crazy, knights were doing a last-minute workout to show more muscles and the cooks were on the edge of a mental breakdown. Jongho's father was just smiling and going around the castle in his gold-colored robe, Junhong having a black one. All together, their colours matched the colors of their flag, unintentionally.

Junhong was really sceptic about Seori's rulers coming, he was sure they had nothing good to do here. Their father was excited and happy, but Jongho was terrified. 

The situation now was way too close to the conversation in Jongho's dream for his liking. They were coming, the king and crown prince were coming, and they were Jamjari's friends. It was identical, and that scared Jongho. But then again, it could be pure luck.

The three men had talked about something forbidden and sinful happening, also about two kingdoms becoming one. That wasn't possible if the two of them didn't fight, so it was out of the question. Atleast Jongho hoped so, because he didn't want his father and Junhong to be sent to a war. He himself was nowhere near capable of doing that, because he had succesfully avoided the martial art training for a long time, and nowadays his father had just given up on making him a knight-like prince.

Of course Jongho knew the basics. He was good at fighting, especially with a sword, but not good enough for going to a war. He would be dead in thirty seconds after the fight even began. Knowledge about stars or different instruments didn't really help there.

Jongho could easily protect himself, he wasn't a damsel in distress, but war was a different situation.

Junhong was the opposite. He could handle every single weapon needed, swords, nunchucks, daggers, bows, he was excellent in different martial arts and knew a lot about history. He was almost the epitome of a perfect king. The only thing Jongho would request Junhong to do was to calm his attitude down. He was usually very quiet but observing, snappy but kind-hearted, but let people know if he disliked them. 

Jongho walked to the hall, where he saw the said crown prince, Junhong, standing and watching as the servants ran around the castle. He had his hands crossed against his chest, and Jongho smiled at his brother who looked very bored.

"Bored?" Jongho asked Junhong as he approached him.

Junhong glanced at him before he slung his hand over Jongho's shoulder and pulled him close. Junhong was exactly ten centimeters taller than Jongho, so it probably looked quite funny.

"A bit. I just want this all to be over so we can go back to normal." Junhong said.

"What normal? This is a normal meeting, brother."  
Jongho said.

"Yes, but i don't like the Parks."

"Why not? You're the future king of Jamjari, you need to at least pretend to like them." Jongho said, caressing his brother's hand that was on his shoulder.

"People from North make my skin crawl." Was the simple answer Jongho got.

"Do you know something about them that I don't?" Jongho asked his brother, lifting up his eyebrows.

"No." Junhong said, not looking at him, which made Jongho narrow his eyes playfully.

"Alright, Mr everyone's sketchy. You know what? Let's go outside so you can teach me that sword move of yours." Jongho said and giggled at the sight of Junhong's face lighting up like a firework.

"Really?"

"Yes." Jongho wanted to distract Junhong from thinking too much. 

The two of them walked to Jongho's balcony, and Junhong began teaching Jongho. His brother seemed to forget everything else, so Jongho's plan was effective.

The two hours went quite fast after that, and soon Jongho and Junhong were walking towards the thrones in the massive hall.

Their father sat on his throne, the queen's one right next to him, but empty. Junhong's was next to their father's and Jongho's next to his. Their thrones were much less decorated and smaller. Very high-quality chairs were put up for the king and crown prince of Seori as well, but everyone knew they weren't going to sit, but rather retire to check their chambers and immediately after that come back to eat dinner with them.

"Just in time, as always. The Parks are almost here, our knights have reached them a long while ago and are escorting them here right now." Their father said, smiling widely. 

Jongho nodded. Now that the moment was closer, he became very nervous. Seeing another king and a crown prince was a thing that wasn't an every-day occasion, so he was anxious. Despite being a royal, he was a mere prince, so he was on a lower level than the newcomers, which caused him to be more nervous. In real life it didn't really matter because they were supposed to respect him as much as the king, but Jongho had made this 'I'm lower than them' theory in his head. Junhong and his dad had scolded him about it a lot, because it was dumb and unnecessary, but it wasn't that Jongho called himself worse than them. It wasn't like that. Jongho only thought about the way he should act towards them, because he didn't know the Parks at all.

"They're here! Everyone ready!" Youngjae yelled to the other servants when he glanced out of the window and probably saw horses coming closer fast.

Knights straightened up and changed into their stone-cold expressionless selves, servants stood by the sides of the hall to be able to help if needed and their main servant left to be ready at the gates.

"Alright boys. Remember to smile and be a royal. Junhong, don't glare at them, you're going to be our king one day, so it's really important to become friends with the crown prince." Their father said.

"Yes, father." They both answered, sitting down on their thrones.

Junhong looked stress-free, and Jongho had to admire his four years older brother. He looked like a royalty effortlessly, just by the way he carried himself and sat on the throne. Jongho copied his posture a bit to look like that too.

"They're coming!" Was the last yell, and after that everyone fell quiet. No one spoke, no one moved; they were all waiting for the royalties to come.

Jongho bit his lower lip, but let it free when the massive doors opened, and people walked inside.

His eyes went immediately to the king of Seori, Park Sangwook, who was smiling widely while walking and leading his group. Jongho's father stood up, which was a sign for them also.

Jongho stood up and smiled softly and gently, just like he had been taught, and watched as his father walked down the steps to greet his good friend.

"Pleasure to meet you again, King Jongseok." Sangwook said, and the two of them exchanged a friendly hug.

"You know it's just Jongseok."

The two of them laughed, so Jongho let his eyes wander to the crew he had come in with. A person standing behind Sangwook was wearing all black, and Jongho started from the toes of that person.

The beautiful clothes didn't do any justice for that face.

People from South had light brown hair and tan skin. People from the middle had dark brown hair and a bit tanned skin, like Jongho. People from North had pale skin and black hair; this man was from North.

His pale skin gave the black clothes and hair a nice contrast. The hair was tied up with a ponytail just like Jongho's, but he had bangs curling on the right side of his forehead. They fell over the black headband he wore effortlessly, like water. Jongho had never seen anyone put their hair like that, and god it looked beautiful. He would want to try it too. It was probably made with a piece of a wig, because no one really had that kind of hairstyle. Atleast usually.

The man's face was sharp. He had a straight, pointy nose, high cheekbones, smooth skin and dark eyes. The irises were completely black, so his eyes looked like the sky during night when light hit them.

He was the crown prince, Jongho was sure.

But as beautiful as his eyes were, the owner made them look strict. His thick black brows were a bit furrowed, and his eyes stayed on his and Jongho's father, staring at them sharply. The eyes were hardened, there were no emotions going on in them, and god he looked intimidating.

Jongho definitely found him attractive, just like all females did in the hall. He was probably going to be their wet dream for a long while.

"Boys, come on here," Jongho's father said, beckoning them to come over with his hand and a huge smile.

Jongho pulled himself back from his thoughts and smiled, following Junhong down the few stairs. 

"My older son, the Crown Prince Choi Junhong." Jongho's father proudly said.

Junhong bowed respectfully, greeting the king.

"My oldest and only son, the crown prince as well, Park Seonghwa." Sangwook said, pulling the said man, Seonghwa, a bit closer. He bowed as well and kept his eyes on Junhong, whose eyes seemed to twitch a bit.

"My youngest and second son, Prince Choi Jongho."

Jongho bowed and looked back up at Sangwook's kind eyes.

"Pleasure to mee you, Your Majesty." Jongho said.

"My pleasure as well!"

Jongho glanced at Seonghwa, because he felt eyes on him. The crown prince was indeed staring at him, which made Jongho want to squirm a bit. He had never met someone from North, and he was very bad when given attention from someone outside his family.

"Did the trip go well? Where did you leave your wife?" Jongho father asked, he and Sangwook beginning to converse.

Jongho looked up at Junhong, who was looking away. He knew his big brother was gritting his teeth together from the way the muscles on his jaw flexed and showed through the skin.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Park Seonghwa." The crown prince of Seori finally said to them, and Jongho's first reaction was to get shivers running down his spine. 

His voice was deep and low, and Jongho actually had to swallow. He had always envied everyone with deep voices. His brother had a pretty deep voice too, which he was jealous of.

"My pleasure. My name is Choi Jongho." Jongho greeted again, bowing, to which Seonghwa answered by bowing back.

Junhong finally got a grip of himself and bowed.

"I'm Choi Junhong." 

Jongho almost wanted to kick Junhong for being so ignorant.

Seonghwa gave Junhong a small smile, the air around them becoming even more akward now. Jongho met eyes with Seonghwa and gave him a quick smile to ease the tensed air, and to apologize for Junhong's attitude. His eyes were still hard and strict, so Jongho just wanted to look away, but Seonghwa was full-on staring at him, his clothes and basically everything.

Jongho swallowed again as the crown prince's gaze went down, and he saw Seonghwa lifting one of his brows. He was judging Jongho's clothes, and god, he felt insecure. 

He could only take his eyes off Seonghwa when a hand grabbed his waist and he was pulled tightly against Junhong's side. His brother held him close by his waist and was giving Seonghwa a stinky-eye. So much of having a good relationship between them.

Their fathers stopped conversing and smiled back at their sons.

"I think Seonghwa and I are going to head to our chambers to take a quick rest, as the journey here was quite tiring. We'll join you at the dinner, right?"

Seonghwa nodded, and the both of them bowed before turning around and heading towards their respective bedchambers with the servants. Seemed like Seonghwa wasn't a man of many words.

"Junhong? What's wrong?" Jongho asked, looking up at his brother's face. Junhong scoffed and pulled Jongho even closer.

"He was looking you up and down. Basically judging you by your clothes and body! I knew he brought nothing good here. If he starts bullying my baby brother I'm going to fight him."

Jongho sighed and just leaned against his brother.

"I'm sure he wasn't bullying me, just checking out my clothes. Nothing bad. Please try to get on with him, you need to." Jongho said, giving his brother a hug. 

Junhong just sighed and hugged him back, nodding.  
"I'll try."

"The dinner is in thirty minutes, boys. Get ready for boring talks, because we will start discussing the Haegol situation." 

Jongho laughed and winked back when his father did the same to him, and started leading Junhong out.

"Go take a nap or something, you'll feel much better after that." Jongho said, but followed his brother to his bedchamber.

Junhong laid on the mattress, closing his eyes to get at least fifteen minutes of sleep. Jongho sat down on the armchair after taking a book from Junhong's desk and opening the first page. It was about history, of course. Jongho wasn't interested in history. He liked the future more, and he always wondered that what kind of life would people in the future be living? Maybe everything was better after a hundred years. Maybe non-royalties weren't looked down upon. Maybe thinking that a man was prettier than a woman wasn't disgusting anymore. Maybe in the future Jongho wasn't disgusting for feeling want towards men instead of women. 

He shook the thoughts out, since it was better to just brush them off.

Jongho scrolled through the pages lazily, glancing at Junhong every once in a while.

He looked at the pictures of very naked humans that were drawn on the book's pages. They were running after a mammot, and Jongho chuckled. He was glad the world was over that phase already.

The future really fascinated him. If humans had developed from sleeping in a cave to building beautiful castles in this short time, what kind of tricks did future have in its sleeves?

Jongho looked up when someone knocked on the door, and he put the book away. They needed to go to the dining room now, they had to be there before their guests, so he walked to Junhong and gently shook his brother awake.

"Let's go." Jongho said.

It took a while for Junhong to get up, but he did, and stretched before he was ready. The two of them walked to the dining room, greeting the servants before taking their seats. The seats for their guests were on the other side of the table so they could face each other easily without having to crane their necks or peek behind someone.

Their father was speaking with Youngjae, before he patted the said man on the shoulder and came to sit next to Junhong.

"Ready for a long conversation?" He asked.

"No, but we don't have an option anyways." Junhong said playfully, which made their kind father laugh. The short nap had helped the future king a little.

"Atleast we get good food," Jongho said and inhaled deeply to get the smell of meat.

His father laughed again, but then the doors opened and the visitors walked in. 

Jongho stood up to bow, but sat down right after. 

"The food smells absolutely delicious," Sangwook said and sat down, smiling at the servants who just bowed shyly.

"It does, doesn't it? And we, the lucky guys, get to eat it." His father said, ans beckoned their guests to start eating.

Jongho picked up his chopsticks and carefully blowed on a piece of meat to cool it down. He glanced at Seonghwa who was taking a mouthful of the soup. Jongho admired his facial features for a moment, sighing on the inside. Why couldn't he just be normal, call princesses the most beautiful human beings in this world, marry one and be in love, make children and have a happy ever after? Why was he some disgusting piece of rotten fish that didn't even deserve to live, like people said about men like him?Why was he like this? Jongho began to feel the familiar pressure on his chest again.

"So, Junhong, your father told me that you're a very talented fighter!" Sangwook's voice fortunately pulled him away from his thoughts. It was better to not to think of those words anyways.

Junhong bowed a bit before speaking;  
"I train hard to be a good one."

"What about you, Jongho? Are you following in your father's and brother's footsteps?" Sangwook asked, and Jongho just shook his head, smiling a bit.

"No, Your Majesty. I'm nowhere near my father's or brother's skills." Jongho said, feeling a bit shy now that there were four pairs of eyes on him.

"Jongho here likes to study and read a lot. He also plays many instruments. Junhong and I did everything to get him to train more, but he hates it." Jongho's father explained, causing Jongho to blush more and put his gaze down. He knew Seonghwa was looking at him now with his sharp eyes, probably judging him even more.

"But he's an excellent sword fighter and can really use a bow well, Jongho hits the target very easily even far away and while riding." Junhong said as he recognized the blush of embarrassement and humiliation on Jongho's cheeks.

He wasn't embarrassed to say that he liked reading and studying, but just stating that in front of a crown prince that definitely knew how to fight was a bit embarrassing.

"Oh really? You should show me some day. I have always admired people who are good at archery."

Jongho just bowed again. They were all quiet for awhile since everyone was hungry, but then Jongho's father put his chopsticks down.

"Your visit here is to talk about the peace treaty we want to make between us and Haegol, because we still don't have one, even if the war was almost thirty years ago." Jongho's father began, to which Sangwook nodded.

"Yes. The Han family wasn't that keen on making one, but now they're willing to cooperate." Sangwook said.

"They are more than happy to finally get the peace officially between us three. Seori and Jamjari versus Haegol has been a love triangle that no one has known the way to solve, for years." Jongho's father continued, sipping his rice wine.

"We're leaving to Haegol tomortow, right after your leave to Seori. You're going back to Seori and then coming to Haegol if I recall Your Majesty's and father's letters correctly?" Junhong asked Sangwook and Seonghwa, who had been quiet all the time.

"Yes, correct. We're going to check on my wife and do few personal things and then come to Haegol. It will definitely take a bit more time, but our carriages start from here and go straight to Haegol. Seonghwa and I will take just our duffles and ride with horses there as fast as we can."

Holy mother nature, they were going to ride from Seori to Haegol? That was a long distance. Their legs had to be made of iron if they did that.

"You probably have very strong thighs," Jongho's father commented, laughing.

"My muscles are getting weaker, but Seonghwa here has very big muscles. He's like a bull."

Jongho bit his lip, mind going back to a romantic novel he had written. He had to shoo himself away before he would blush like a girl.

"Oh I believe that. Seonghwa is a very handsome young man, he's going to marry a pretty princess one day." 

Jongho looked at Seonghwa, who just chuckled, and bowed.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Your own sons are very good-looking also, if not even more beautiful than I." 

Jongho just took some noodles and ignored the fact that he had been called beautiful. It was the best way to handle compliments.

"Junhong took more after me, Jongho after their mother. I'm very proud of our genes." Jongho's father said, laughing.

"Oh, your wife was really, really beautiful then." Seonghwa said, his sharp eyes turning to look at Jongho.

Jongho almost cursed. He almost did, but stopped himself by biting his own tongue so hard that he had to do everything to not to wince. He began tasting the cruel, coppery taste of blood in his mouth.

The whole table laughed, and Seonghwa's face twisted from expressionless to a smirking one. Jongho knew his cheeks were a bit red.

"Jongho can be a bit shy with new people, don't mind it." His father said.

That wasn't the thing. He wasn't shy, but he absolutely hated when he had to meet really handsome princes, because that just reminded him of the fact that he was indeed sick in the head. 

"So... I think we should drop the bomb now." Sangwook said after everyone calmed down.

Jongho glanced at Junhong, who was looking down and bouncing his leg. What was he so nervous about? And what bomb? 

"Oh. Yes." His father said, taking a sip of his rice wine before continuing and setting his eyes on Jongho.

"The peace treatys are always made with something that ties the two countries together. Maybe it's a small landmark, or some kind of celebration, but ours... is a bit different." 

"Father." Junhong cut his father off, clearly asking him to hurry up. What was Junhong so nervous for?

"Jongho, you're going to marry Haegol's crown princess, Han Sunhwa." His father said.

Everyone fell quiet. Jongho's eyes blinked rapidly for a few times before he put the chopsticks down. His father wouldn't do that, would he? 

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, Jongho." Junhong said.

Jongho looked at his father with a look that could only be described with four words: the feeling of betrayal. 

"Yes. You and Crown Princess Sunhwa are going to get married. Next week."

Jongho finally began to gain his words back. He knew throwing a tantrum in front of the Parks was very immature and childish, but this was his future they were talking about.

"No. No way." Jongho said.

His father sighed.

"You don't have a say in this, Jongho. Because of this marriage, we can finally sign that peace treaty."

Jongho was speechless. His mind was running miles and heart beating as loud as soldiers' shoes banged against the ground when marching.

"It's my future. My life, my- my literally everything. How can you do this to me?" Jongho asked, feeling anger building up. Everyone else in the room was quiet.

"Because I'm your father and you need to fulfill your place as the prince." His father sternly said, clearly not liking the fact that Jongho was speaking like this in front of visitors.

Jongho stood up so fast that his chair fell over. 

"I am not- No. I do not allow being married to a girl I have never seen, met or talked to for the rest of my life. I'll need to stay with her forever! We're going to need to get kids and I don't want to! I don't want to become some kind of king, but still can't be called one!" Jongho said, rising his voice.

"Jongho." His father growled, standing up too. Sangwook and Seonghwa were completely silent and only watched them.

"What part you don't get? It's literally my future! Everything I have ever wanted to pursue is going to get thrown straight off a cliff! Why on earth can't you build some bloody bridge instead of being selfish and marrying your son not out of love or liking but for a peace treaty?" Jongho yelled. 

That kind of behavior was not tolerated in any ways in the castle. It was very inappropriate, and Jongho would hear about it later.

"Jongho!" His father yelled back.

"I do not approve this. This peace treaty is a piece of trash, like is my stupid life is to you." He said, and started storming out of the dining room.

He heard his father walking towards him with hurried steps, so Jongho turned around and held his hand in front of him, pointing at his father.

"Don't come closer. You and you, Junhong, disgust me. Don't come looking after me, I won't be anywhere you can find me." Jongho said and stormed out, running to the garden.

He still heard those words inside his head, but he was so angry, that he just ran forward.

His life was ruined, and for what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo! Welcome back!
> 
> Boom, the bomb has been dropped. An arranged marriage beftween Haegol and Jamjari, and our poor Jongho has to suffer. I’m excited to show you guys what happens next. 
> 
> Seonghwa has entered the story now, and he is here to stay. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! See you next saturday!
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/cloudyjjongie?s=21) and [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/Cloudyjongho)


	3. A labyrinth, but it’s my mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A filler chapter.

Jongho sat alone on the ground just beside the small lake in their garden. He saw many different carps swim around it and jump every now and then, and leaned his head on the tree he was sitting against. His anger was now gone, the sadness taking over. Jongho's mind was a mess he couldn't solve.

Of course he knew something like this could happen. But he would've never ever thought that his father would do something like that because he trusted him. His father was a good and a kind man Jongho looked up to, but now he felt betrayed and disappointed.

He couldn't even imagine how much worse his life would be in a week. He had never met Sunhwa, yet he had to somehow magically fall in love with her, even if she was the wrong gender. Jongho would need to act all lovey-dovey and finally, some day, he would need to give his children to Sunhwa- he couldn't even think of it. Hell, Sunhwa was ten years older than Jongho. What was his father thinking?

Jongho sighed and tore yet another piece of his cuticle off, hissing as it was a bit bigger piece and his finger began bleeding. He had this bad habit he always did when he was nervous or emotionally distressed.

Well, he was going to get married. To a crown princess. An arranged marriage. It was very common, but he could have never thought of it happening to himself. But everything was probably settled between the two kingdoms already. Running away was the only option, but that was what cowards did, and Jongho wasn't a coward. He would never be a coward.

But did Haegol really want a king like him? They wouldn't, would they? No. They expected something like Junhong, but got Jongho. They would hate him, so would Sunhwa, since she probably wanted a husband that was a perfect fighter and led soldiers like a real king. Well, she would need to get disappointed. The prince that was coming there was Jongho. Just Jongho. 

Jongho closed his eyes and let his brains take over again. It was his mind that made him think like that, but if he turned on his brains, he would be back to the Jongho that accepted the marriage because he owed his kingdom. He owed them, because he was just a prince. The kingdom had to love him and feed him, when in real life, nothing would change if Jongho just magically died. It was saddening to accept. After an year or so, everyone would've already forgotten about him already because he was just a prince. He couldn't become a king any other way than marrying a crown princess, just like he was going to do. 

But really, he sometimes wondered why his parents had a second child. He wasn't needed, one child would do. Maybe they wanted to have someone Junhong could play with, but then again, Junhong was four years older than Jongho.

Jongho was mad and disappointed at Junhong as well, but he couldn't help but forgive him. He knew his brother tried everything to stop his father. He knew his brother would've married Sunhwa for Jongho if it was possible, but it wasn't, since Junhong was the crown prince. Now that he thought about his older brother and the face he had had after Jongho's outlash, Jongho began feeling very bad. He didn't want to hurt Junhong, he never did. 

Jongho opened his eyes and was about to stand up and go look for Junhong, but instead he saw a person sitting next to him, so he screamed and scrambled farer away.

Seonghwa turned his head to look at Jongho lazily, those black eyes of his not giving out anything. Jongho's heart was still in his throat and his eyes were as wide as his aunt's butt (his father always liked to tease Jongho's aunt about her big butt), but he couldn't get one word out. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

Seonghwa turned his head back and paid no attention to Jongho. He didn't even say anything, just watched as the fish swam in the lake and the calm wind made the trees and bushes sway slightly.

Jongho's mind was going crazy. He had no idea why on earth would the crown prince sit with him, and he still wondered when had that man arrived there, and why was he blushing a bit? Or was it just because of his very close heartattack?

Jongho didn't say anything either, but moved back to his original place to lean against the tree. Now he wasn't so keen on leaving. He wanted to know why was Seonghwa there. He had some kind of reason, didn't he?

Jongho watched the fish as well, but kept his guard up. He knew nothing about Seonghwa, he was a mysterious person for Jongho.

"Aren't you going to clean that finger?" Seonghwa asked, still not looking at Jongho.

"What?" Jongho asked, but at the same time remembered his bleeding finger.

"Clean it. Otherwise it's going to get infected."

Jongho stared at Seonghwa's side profile for a while before he stood up and walked to the lake and started washing the cut there. It stung a bit, but Jongho refused to hiss. He needed to play strong in front of Seonghwa, which was very dumb.

Seonghwa probably already thought he was an idiot because of the cute little tantrum he threw. His father was very mad at him about that, so Jongho couldn't wait until he would have to face the wrath. He had embarrassed the whole royal family, but Jongho didn't feel sorry. The marriage was a huge thing.

He did feel embarrassed of being with Seonghwa now. He was actually very embarrassed. But Seonghwa just chilled there, leaning against the same huge tree, and watched the lake. Or maybe he watched Jongho right now. Just maybe. Jongho didn't want to get caught peeking at him, so he just stood up and walked back, his hands still dripping water. He sat down and continued staring the lake and being absolutely silent again. So was Seonghwa, so Jongho didn't bother speaking anymore.

Honestly, it was nice to be like this. He had someone next to him, but he didn't need to talk or really just do anything. It was calming and made Jongho feel a lot better. Maybe that was what Seonghwa was trying to do, who knew. Atleast now Jongho knew Seonghwa didn't want to bully him, because who called their victim beautiful? It was an indirect praise, but still... how did he do that in front of his father and Jongho's father? Didn't he care if they started thinking he was sick too? That's why Jongho was always so careful.

"Stop thinking so much." Seonghwa said again, and Jongho turned to look at him.

"How do you know I'm thinking?" He asked. Wow, such a dumb question.

"Because I can hear your brains melting. Just try to forget the marriage until it's time to meet her. Then you can decide whether you like her or not. Who knows, maybe you'll really fall in love." Seonghwa said.

"I don't-" Jongho started, but shut his mouth and sighed.

"Okay."

"Good boy." 

Jongho glared at Seonghwa.  
"I'm not a dog, thank you very much."

Seonghwa smirked and turned to look at Jongho.  
"You aren't?"

Jongho scoffed and stood up, still glaring at Seonghwa and his childishly twinkling eyes. Jongho marched away, feeling the blush taking now over his cheeks as he heard that beautiful laughter. Oh god, he really needed to forget that stupid crown prince and find Junhong.

Jongho walked inside the castle again, searching for Junhong and avoiding his father and Seonghwa. Why was he avoiding the latter? Jongho didn't know, but it was easy to do since Seonghwa has stayed at the lake. Jongho probably avoided him because he was annoying. Annoyingly handsome. And Jongho wasn't supposed to think like that of men.

Jongho knocked on Junhong's door and walked in after he heard a faint 'come in' from the inside. He bit his lower lip out of habit, and looked at his big brother who was laying on the bed and looking at Jongho.

"Junhong..." Jongho breathed out, and walked closer.

Junhong didn't open his mouth, but opened his arms, and Jongho crawled on the bed until he was right next to his brother. He let Junhong wrap his arms around Jongho just like he used to do when Jongho was smaller. They always laid like this and just hugged each other. Now they were both adults, so they hadn't done this in a long while.

"I'm really sorry, Jongho. Trust me, I tried everything I could, but father didn't agree." Junhong said, his nose against the top of Jongho's head.

"I know. I'm sorry for being mean towards you. I'm sorry for my tantrum too." Jongho answered.

"No, your reaction was very appropriate for the situation. I was furious too. I'm really sorry, baby brother." 

Jongho felt his brother's chest rising, and it calmed him down even more. His brother was safe, he was Jongho's safety. Junhong's strong hands were around Jongho, making him feel good again.

Jongho smiled.  
"No, it's really fine. I'll learn how to live. I really love you, Junhong, never forget that. I couldn't have a better brother." Jongho muttered, feeling a bit shy.

Junhong smiled and nuzzled his nose to Jongho's hair.  
"I love you too, baby brother. You're my first priority, okay? No one else."

"What about when you get your queen?" Jongho asked, teasing Junhong.

"Please, do you really think some woman is going to steal the first place from my only brother? You're incorrect."

Jongho laughed and hugged Junhong better.  
"You better keep me as your favorite person forever since you're going to be buried with me." 

Junhong began laughing, and Jongho laughed harder.

"Oh right, I forgot about that. I need to keep you happy, otherwise you're going to haunt me forever." 

Jongho laughed so hard that his eyes moistened up with tears, but after they calmed down, he just laid there with Junhong. It felt so good to be able to stay with his brother closely like this. Maybe he was a bit touch starved. 

"Do you think father is mad at me?" Jongho asked.

"He's definitely mad, atleast a bit, but I think he'll calm down. He won't eat you alive, I know that for a fact. He knows what kind of feelings you feel after dropping a bomb loke that. Don't worry, he'll only scold you for a while."

Jongho nodded and closed his eyes. Maybe Junhong was right and his father didn't really want to whip him or something. The rest of their day was free, since Sangwook and Jongho's father were having the conversations now. Jongho didn't know what to do. Usually he would just go to the library, but somehow that sounded boring now.

"Do you like Seonghwa?" Jongho asked. Why did his mind go back to him all the time?

"Crown Prince Seonghwa, Jongho. And I think I don't hate him? He just annoyed me first because I thought he was being mean to you when he wasn't. But he doesn't speak a lot so I can't really form an opinion just from a few sentences. What about you?"

"He's very handsome." Jongho said, and Junhong laughed.

"He is. He's the type of guy every single girl would like to date. Muscular, mysterious, strong, skilled... handsome. Perfect."

"Like you. You're the prince everyone wants to date, Junhong. Haven't you heard how girls gush after you?" Jongho asked, smirking.

"Oh come on, stop it. You're not so bad yourself. Maybe Sunhwa appreciates a nerd- ow!"

Jongho pinched Junhong's hand, laughing.  
"I'm not a nerd!"

"You are. Who else spends hours in library?"

"I don't only study! I also sing! That's not what nerds do, is it?" Jongho asked.

"Yes, but you're a nerd."

"I'm not." Jongho answered, feeling hurt.

"You are." 

"No." 

"Yes." Junhong said, smirking.

"No."

"Don't pout."

Jongho glared at Junghong.

"Fine, you're not a nerd." His brother gave in, breaking into a smile.

Jongho laughed and hugged Junhong better.

"Let's take a nap." The older proposed, squeezing Jongho's cheeks.

"Again? You just took one before the dinner!" Jongho answered.

"You can never nap too much. Come on, close your eyes and start dreaming."

"Junhong, it's literally almost nine. If you sleep now, you'll wake up tomorrow. We are leaving tomorrow, so you need to socialize with our guests today." Jongho said to Junhong and sat up.

"Do I have to?" Junhong asked.

"Yes. God, you are absolutely going to destroy Jamjari once you are the king. I'll just witness my home kingdom crumbling down." Jongho teased his older brother who glared at him.

"What do you want me to do, then?"

"You're the crown prince, not me. But if I was you, I would go talk to Crown Prince Seonghwa. You are going to need to be friends with him, so why not do it now? He's at the lake." Jongho answered to Junhong.

"Were you with him?" Junhong asked as he stood up and made sure his beautiful hanbok wasn't wrinkled.

"More like he was with me. He joined me. But he's not exactly talkative, so make sure to get some topics ready so it doesn't get akward." Jongho said and smiled to Junhong before leaving the to-be-king in the room, and continuing towards the library.

He heard chatting that sounded dangerously like his father, so he walked faster, but not fast enough, because soon a big hand grabbed his wrist and he looked up to see his handsome father. 

"Jongho." His father said lowly, and nodded to Sangwook, who smiled at Jongho before continuing down the hallway. 

"Yes, father?" Jongho asked.

"You know what I want." His father continued.

Jongho sighed.  
"You want an apology, yes. I apologize. But it was very sudden and shocked me a lot, father. I have accepted it, atleast a bit. But even if I'm not furious anymore, I'm not happy about it either." Jongho explained.

"What more can you ask? You are going to get married with a queen that can make you the king. The woman is very beautiful and I know you're going to get on well. What are you losing?" His father asked.

Maybe the right to choose a person he loves? Or, maybe the right to be with a gender he wants?

Well, that wouldn't be the case any day. Even if he was only a prince, he still wouldn't be able to love a man. Some part of him had been having wishful thoughts, but the reality was rough. Even if he found someone, he could never have a man. Even without this marriage.

So, he gritted out:  
"Nothing, father. I'm not losing anything. I'll be in the library. Good night." Jongho said and pulled his wrist free from his father's now loose grip.

"The wedding is held in Haegol a few days after we arrive." His father said strictly.

Jongho ignored him and continued down the hallway, walking towards the library. The only thing that could help him now was reading.

—

When the morning came, Jongho was woken up earlier than ever. The sun was barely seen, a few lonely strands of it coloring up the sky. The birds were still asleep, and the air was colder than during the day. Jongho felt like dying. He refused to get up from his soft bed and thick blankets.

They would start their journey to Haegol today in an hour or so. Usually they would take a carriage, but Jongho's father wanted to torture his sons and made them ride half of the distance. They would get their horses from the border of Jamjari and Haegol and leave their traveling carriage there. It was easier that way, because the road to Haegol was old and very bad, so the carriage wasn't an option after that. They would need to go through deserts and mountains, even a river. So, making the journey on top of a horse was much easier and faster. Though, they needed one carriage to their clothes and stuff, but handling one was easier than three.

Jongho didn't get to swim in his self-pity for longer, because Youngjae got tired of it and pulled Jongho's blanket off, making the prince yell and curl up.

"YOUNGJAE!" 

"Up, Your Highness." Youngjae said and offered Jongho a hand.

"I'll fire you!" Jongho threatened but grabbed Youngjae's hand and stood up.

"Yeah yeah. But your next servant won't let you stay in library until 2am, so you'll start missing me before I can leave the gates." Youngjae said with a smirk and Jongho glared at him, because it was true.

"Let's dress you up. After that you'll have breakfast, and you leave."

"Aren't you coming with me?" Jongho asked, furrowing his brows.

"No. Only two knights as well as the royal adviser, Jongup, come with you."

Jongho pouted but didn't answer. Maybe it was good, because Youngjae was needed here.

He let Youngjae wrap the white blouse around him before taking the long vest-like shirt, and placed it on Jongho as well. It wasn't a wrap-around one, so the black belt kept it on its place. The fabric was soft. Jongho didn't put a headband on this time, he kept his hair open instead of a high ponytail.

"You need your lip tint too." Youngjae mumbled, and grabbed a jar of lip tint made of some insect's blood. 

Youngjae dabbed the color lightly to Jongho's lips, not too much but just enough to make his lips look healthier. The color would stay on for the whole day, that's how good stuff it was.

"Alright. Go eat. I'll come say good bye before you leave." Youngjae said, and Jongho smiled and nodded before standing up and walking out of his room. He could already hear loud chatter.

Indeed, Jongho's father, Junhong, Sangwook and Seonghwa were all eating already, looking bright and energetic. Maybe Jongho would look too if he hadn't stayed up in the library. Jongho glanced at Seonghwa, who was staring at him again, not surprising Jongho. Why did the crown prince look so good this early?

"Good morning father, brother, Your Majesty and Your Highness." Jongho greeted, bowing a bit before sitting down. Looked like everyone else was about to finish their breakfast, so Jongho began eating quickly.

"Had troubles getting up?" Sangwook asked, and Jongho just smiled before eating more. That made his father and Sangwook laugh. He had slept barely an hour.

"We have a long journey ahead, Jongho. I hope you are prepared for that." His father reminded him.

"Yes, I am, father." Jongho answered and ate more, but wasn't able to stop the yawn from coming out.

"Oh great. We're going to listen to Jongho complaining for the whole time we ride." Junhong snorted beside him, and Jongho stuck his tongue out. Very appropriate manners.

Sangwook laughed, and even Seonghwa looked entertained while finishing his fruits.

Jongho just stuffed more food inside him (while looking like a prince. Yes, that was a thing, he could inhale food royally. It was one of his secret talents) and finally set his chopsticks down.

"Great. Let's get going, then. You have a long journey home and even longer to Haegol." Jongho's father said, and they all stood up.

"I really enjoyed this less-than-24-hours visit. Catched up with you, Seonghwa saw your sons." Sangwook said and hugged Jongho's father.

"Me too, it was pleasurable. Thank you for sacrifing your precious time and energy to meet us before meeting there. I wish your trip home goes well."

Sangwook turned to them, and Jongho just smiled and bowed to Sangwook who patted his and Junhong's shoulders. 

"Come on Seonghwa, give your new friends hugs." He encouraged his one and only son, who stepped forward and hugged Junhong quickly. It looked very akward.

Jongho was probably a bit red on his cheeks, not a lot but a bit when Seonghwa stepped inside his personal space and wrapped his arms around Jongho. The hug was quick, but Jongho absolutely loved it. He caught a wiff of what Seonghwa smelled like. He smelled musky, but mixed with something woody— pine, maybe? As well as something fresh, like verbena. It was a really good combo, which suited the crown prince well.

"We'll get going, then. Be careful on your way there. We're probably in Haegol after six days if we're lucky. We could reach Seori by today, but that would tire us out so we're doing it in two days. Then it takes us five days to arrive in Haegol." Sangwook said as they walked towards their horses and Jongho quickly said goodbye to Youngjae, feeling eyes on him while he hugged his favorite servant. 

It was the crown prince, of course. His hawk-like eyes were always on Jongho, which did bother him a bit, but not in a bad way. He just began feeling a bit fidgety and insecure because Seori's crown prince was really handsome. His body was like a dream, and he had gotten all the good genes. Jongho didn't complain when a beautiful man gave him attention. He blushed. And his heart sped up, like right now.

Jongho let go of Youngjae and ran to get to the other royals, and watched how Seonghwa heaved himself up on the horse. 

He looked majestical.

The black stalliod under Seonghwa was gorgeous, muscular and fit Seonghwa perfectly. It seemed to be full of energy, judging from the way it lifted its legs as if ready to bolt away. Seonghwa had to hold the reins tightly to sign the horse to stay still.

Jongho's mouth was probably open while he watched the majestical creature, which had Seonghwa chuckling.

"You can pet him, if you want to." Seonghwa offered, and Jongho smiled, stepping closer carefully and slowly rising his hand to pet the horse's neck.

"His name is Chudae." 

"Nice to meet you, Chudae, I'm Jongho. You're really pretty." Jongho said and petted the soft, very soft fur.

"What about me?" Seonghwa suddenly asked, making Jongho look up from the majestical creature.

"What about you?" Jongho asked back. What did Seonghwa mean? Did he want Jongho to say he was pretty too? Seonghwa was more than pretty, but Jongho would never say that out loud.

"Was it nice to meet me?" Seonghwa asked, a smirk slowly rising on his lips.

"Ah," Jongho said, bowing a bit.  
"Yes, it was nice to meet you, Your Highness."

Seonghwa bowed a bit back, and Jongho saw how his eyes went down Jongho's body again, so he quickly focused on the horse. He didn't want to blush. And make himself seem like an idiot more than he had already done.

"I'll say it since you're too shy," Seonghwa started, and Jongho could swear his heart jumped to his throat. What was he going to say?

"You're very, very beautiful, Your Highness. I hope we meet soon again." 

Jongho gasped silently when Seonghwa grabbed his hand that had been resting on Chudae's neck. His hand was brought to Seonghwa's lips, where he pressed a kiss to the knuckles. Like princesses and queen were usually treated.

Jongho gasped out loud now and pulled his hand back quickly.

"Are you crazy? People could've seen," He hissed, throwing the honorifics out of the nearest window.

"Well, no one did. Besides, it was a kiss from man to man, what could it possibly mean other than a good friendship?" Seonghwa asked.

Jongho narrowed his eyes at the smirking prince. Was that sarcasm?

"Be well, Your Highness." Was all Seonghwa said, and before Jongho could hiss at him more, he clicked his tongue to get Chudae moving so he could catch his father who was waiting for him. All Jongho could do was to watch how Seonghwa's body become smaller and smaller.

Jongho sighed, and kicked a rock. 

What was happening between them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi and happy halloween as well as all saints’ day!
> 
> This chapter is a filler one, so sorry if it was boring. I promise, we’re going to have things coming at us from now on. 
> 
> I hope you all are okay and healthy. Have a nice weekend, and let’s see next saturday!
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/cloudyjjongie?s=21) and [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/Cloudyjongho)


	4. Behind the mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [the instruments I mentioned](https://youtu.be/k_UhaSi46NQ)

Jongho stared at his own tired face in the mirror, and tilted his head up when the servant asked him to do so. His slightly tanned but soft skin that had scars left from pimples got a layer of something powdery. Probably to feed the blatant lie of princes being perfect. Maybe it filled up Jongho's scars, maybe it made him prettier. He wanted to be pretty, for himself, for his kingdom, for his soon-to-be wife and for Seonghwa.

Jongho was sick and tired of feeling self-conscious around the said crown prince. He didn't know what had gone wrong inside him, because if liking men and thinking that Seonghwa was hot wasn't bad enough, now his heart had started to so flips every time he even thought of Seonghwa.

Pretty pink colour was added to his lips, and Jongho focused on the hand that did wonders to his face. If only Seonghwa was here, he could finally see Jongho like he wanted to have the other seeing him. But he wasn't, and Jongho needed to meet his wife today later.

They had a masquerade ball. A beautiful black and gold mask was laying on the table, waiting to be tied behind Jongho's head. His clothes were similar too— black and silky, decorated with golden details and a bit of something shiny. It was a work of art, truly, and Jongho didn't know if he was deserving of wearing it.

He could already hear a lot of carriages arriving to the front yard of the castle, the castle of Haegol. It was a big and scary one, Jongho hated it and the fact that it would be his home for the rest of his life after the wedding.

It was so big, that even with dozens of cleaners and servants, they had decided to just close some parts like extra rooms they didn't need. The castle at home was decorated much more colorfully, it was brighter and the stone wasn't as... black. This castle was so dimly lit and so dark that Jongho was almost afraid of walking there alone.

Because the ball was a masquerade one, Jongho wouldn't know who was who. Of course his father and brother would be impossible to not to spot, he had lived with them for 20 years and he knew them. 

Jongho hated the reason behind the party. If it had been made just for... having fun, it would've been fine. But the whole thing was purely made for Jongho and Sunhwa.

Jongho was supposed to be the dream-like prince charming who was tall and handsome. He was supposed to search for his to-be queen. Seriously. From the crowd that has atleast six dozens of women. His dad had wanted him to dance with women until he found his wife, who he had never, in fact, seen. He had only seen a painting, but nothing more. 

The servant tied the fringe wig to his hair. It was similar to what Seonghwa had had back then. The servant used a heated iron stick to curl it. Jongho watched another servant tie the top layer of his hair up to a tight ponytail, curling that too. 

"You're ready, Your Highness." The servant that had styled his hair announced, and Jongho thanked her quietly.

He wasn't really feeling the best. Despite looking beautiful, he felt ugly on the inside. His own thoughts made his insides twist and heart beat speed up, making his chest feel tight and air run out.

Jongho liked how he looked on the outside, not on the inside. But maybe he wasn't the only ugly creature in this world. Maybe someone else also was a weirdo who liked the same gender too.

"Let me walk you to the Great hall, Your Highness." Youngguk requested right after he entered the room.

"Thank you." Jongho answered, not really feeling thankful, but him being here wasn't Youngguk's fault. 

Youngguk offered Jongho a hand in case Jongho wanted to hold it — it was a thing of theirs that had first started right after when Youngguk had become a knight. Which was exactly 11 years ago.

It had been right after Jongho's mother's death, which he did not remember anything about. He couldn't really remember anything about his mother, which was kind of sad but still not. It was better to not to be tied to sadness.

Youngguk had been 18 then. Now the knight was 30.  
Jongho had been very scared of the whole castle and kingdom going absolutely crazy due the news, which was very understandable. That was when Jongho had first fallen for Youngguk. Not the romantical way, but the big brother and little brother way. Youngguk was tall, muscular and handsome, yet still very, very kind. 

Starting from that day, Youngguk had always been able to tell when Jongho wasn't feeling too good. That's when he offered to hold Jongho's hand the exact same way he had done while running with the 8 years old Jongho through the castle, trying to protect the young prince. It was the exact same way he had walked with Jongho to the prince's mother's dead body in the funeral. Of course knights hadn't been been allowed to walk there, but no one, not even Jongho's father, had been able to stop Jongho from holding Youngguk's hand.

But now Jongho only shook his head. If they had been at home he would've taken the inviting big hand, but doing it here would make him look like a weird person. People would get the wrong idea.

A lot of servants ran past him, bowing quicky. Things like these always required a lot of organization.

It was their sixth day and night in Haegol, yet Jongho still didn't know his way around the huge castle. He didn't want to know it, but he would live there for the rest of his life.

"His Majesty and Highness are already there. You are the last one from Jamjari to arrive. Crown Princess Sunhwa has already arrived as well. Try to remember the painting, and find her. Good luck, Your Highness." Youngguk announced once he stopped in front of the massive doors to the Great hall.

Jongho nodded, his muscles feeling stiff. If he ran away now, would it be okay?

"You'll be fine." Youngguk softly added, probably seeing the nervousness on Jongho's face. 

The knight smiled, and gently placed the mask om Jongho's face, and tied it behind his head, carefully placing the hair so it hid the knot.

"Thank you. See you later." Jongho mumbled, and gave Youngguk a tired smile before pushing the doors open.

All eyes were on him of course, he was a newcomer no one recognized. Jongho felt shy under the hundreds of gazes despite being in situations like these almost every month.

The beautiful sound of a geomungo or a gayageum —Jongho wasn't sure which one it was — filled the whole hall. It was paired with a haegeum as well as a daegeum. Those three instruments put together really made the most beautiful sound ever.

Jongho walked inside the Great hall, eyeing the other people. The clothes they wore were colorful and prettily decorated. Jongho hesitantly looked at his own, since he was the only one with black. Jamjari's kingdom wore black and Haegol's dark blue. That was the etiquette only the royal families knew.

It did make finding Sunhwa easier, but there were so many women wearing that color that it almost made Jongho want to take off his mask and yell Sunhwa's name.

Someone tapped on Jongho's shoulder, and he turned around, heart beating a bit harder. Had someone already recognized him?

No, it was Junhong. Jongho's older brother looked very good in his clothes, white details decorating the black. Jongho's father seemed to be right behind Junhong too. His had red decorations.

"Seen her yet?" Junhong asked, avoiding using names.

"No. I just got here. There's too many blue ones." Jongho complained, sighing.

"You'll find her. I have already spotted her, she wasn't that hard to recognize."

"Tell me?" Jongho asked, straightening up. Junhong just chuckled and shook his head.

"No way. You'll need to find her yourself."

Jongho was about to complain again, but the song changed and Junhong left, leaving Jongho alone. His father was talking to some woman, so Jongho sighed and turned around again, beginning his mission.

He let his eyes wander around the hall. Jongho tried to spot a woman in blue that looked like she could be ten years older than Jongho, but failed miserably.

Jongho kept on walking around the hall, but frustration was building up. He had no idea where Sunhwa was.

A woman in dark blue catched Jongho's eye, and oh boy did he almost run.

Jongho walked very fast to the woman without thinking of what he was going to say, and bowed a bit.

"Can I dance with you?" Jongho asked when the woman looked at him.

"Of course." The woman answered.

That's when Jongho knew she was the wrong one. Sunhwa's voice had been described to be lower and softer than what other women had. This one right here had a very high nasal voice.

Jongho gritted his teeth together while placing his hand on the woman's waist, his other hand taking her hand. He just wanted this song to end so he could pick the next woman and get this done. It sounded bad, but Jongho had his reasons.

"So, where are you from?" The woman asked.

"Ah, I'm afraid I can't tell you. I just wanted to dance with somebody." Jongho answered while swirling the woman around. He could tell her, but then again, no. Just no.

"Oh, I respect that." The woman answered shortly, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Are you from here?" Jongho asked back, even though he already knew this woman wasn't anywhere near Sunhwa.

"From Haegol, yes." The woman answered.

"This is my first time in Haegol." Jongho mentioned.

"Oh, really? I hope your visit is succesfull."

Jongho smiled and nodded, spinning her around again.

The woman suddenly leaned very close to him, which almost had Jongho stumbling back. He hadn't really prepared for that. 

"Be careful. Some people here aren't what they look like."

Jongho didn't know what to say or answer. They kept on dancing, but fortunately for Jongho, the woman excused herself to go to bathroom, and he was finally able to get some space for himself from women. 

What had she meant?

Jongho didn't waste any time thinking about it though. He just wanted to find Sunhwa as quickly as possible and then get out. 

When Jongho spotted the next free dark blue lady, he walked to her with long, powerful steps.

"Can I have this dance?" Jongho asked, holding out his hand.

The woman turned around, looked Jongho up and down before nodding slowly and taking his hand. Jongho led her towards the center of the room, placed his hands on the correct spots and looked up. 

He froze.

The woman's eyes were black, so black that they seemed to be holes. They drilled through Jongho, sending shivers running down his spine.

"You're holding me a bit too tightly, Your Highness." The woman said, her voice just as cold as her eyes. 

Jongho flinched and let go of her waist, which he had indeed been squeezing with his knuckles white.

The woman's eyes were straight from Jongho's nightmare. They were the exact same ones one of the men had had. Jongho tried to get away from the woman, panick rising in his throat and somehow blocking his windpipe, but she just squeezed Jongho's shoulder and hand even harder, so hard that it hurt, so Jongho kept on dancing with her.

"Who are you?" Jongho asked breathlessly. She knew that Jongho was a royalty. 

Jongho's heart beat so fast that it was about to jump out of his chest. He felt trapped, just like in the dream, but this time he was alone. If anyone else looked at Jongho now, they wouldn't know that something was wrong.

"Me?" The woman asked, her lips curling into a sly smirk.

Jongho stared back without answering. Her mask wasn't dark blue like Haegol's were, which made Jongho panick even more. She had stolen that hanbok from somewhere. This woman wasn't a royalty from Haegol, but something or someone else.

The woman leaned forward again, similarly to the first lady Jongho had danced with. Her knife-like nails sank into Jongho's beautiful hanbok, so deep that he actually feared that the fabric would tear.

"I'm your worst nightmare." The woman whispered straight to Jongho's ear before finally letting go of him and turning around. 

Jongho knew he should've let the guards know of her, she was an intruder, but her eyes that turned to look at him one more time stopped him. The woman disappeared behind the corner, leaving Jongho in the middle of the dance floor alone.

If he was a normal person, this would've been a tiny thing. Nothing big. But he was a royalty, and royalties always had people wanting to kill them. So what was this woman? A trickster or a real assassin?

Jongho was too sober for this.

He walked briskly to the drink table, which his father had told him to stay away from, and grabbed a glass of the strongest liquid there was. He needed more bravery to actually make it through this night. Besides, he wasn't going to drink a lot.

...a lot more than the first two glasses. Jongho downed the alcohol without a second thought after making sure no one was watching, and finally placed the glass on the table. His throat burned a lot, enough to make him grimace, but knowing that soon he wouldn't think as much made him calmer. 

To be honest, he felt like shit. He was going to the married very soon, and even if he had accepted it, it didn't mean he was completely over the fact that he was indeed REALLY getting married.

Jongho let his gaze wander inside the Great hall and the people in colorful hanboks. He saw a lot of men and women dancing or just talking, maybe nursing a half-empty glass of some drink. Jongho glanced at a shot of soju on the table, and contemplated on taking it, but he knew that after a good twenty minutes he would be feeling the effect of those two a bit too big glasses he had chugged down.

No, he needed it.

Jongho grabbed the shot and downed it in a second, feeling the shivers go down his spine as the soju burned his throat and made its way to his stomach.

Jongho sighed and decided to put space between him and the drink table. He was a prince after all, he needed to maintain his dignity. 

He tried to look for Sunhwa again. He really did, but that woman was nowhere to be seen, which made Jongho a bit mad. He swore he had checked every single dark blue woman here, but none of them looked like her. And he refused to dance with more women. Because that meant acting like a prince charming, and that annoyed Jongho.

Maybe Sunhwa liked playing hard to get. Well, she would need to look for Jongho herself. Jongho was starting to feel the alcohol now.

Just as Jongho was about to turn and walk back to the drink table to help himself, someone knocked on his shoulder, which made him turn around.

A man in pretty white hanbok was smiling at him.

Jongho felt his brains malfunction. The man's hanbok was white, just like his mask, but they were decorated with golden details, just like Jongho's. The man sported a very dark brown hair that looked almost black. His lips were stretched into a smirk that looked a bit familiar, but Jongho's brains were clouded with alcohol and some very, very warming feeling.

The man chuckled at Jongho's reaction, and bowed.

"Good evening. I was wondering if you would've liked to dance with me?" His voice was low and soft. 

Jongho swore he had hearts in his eyes. Who on earth was this man? There was something so, so familiar in him, but he just couldn't get the name out.

"Dance?" Jongho breathed out, still drinking up the man's appearance.

The man chuckled, and nodded.  
"Yes. Dance."

"But we're both men." Jongho blurted out.

Great, now that man thought Jongho was 1. Uptight or 2. Gay. Well, if he thought the second, Jongho had some chances, right?

"And what about it? We can dance, that doesn't mean anything." The man said with an amused smile.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's dance. I didn't want to find Sunhwa anyways." Jongho said, and took the hand the man offered him.

He was getting real tipsy now. His thoughts ran very freely, almost too freely inside his head, and this man wasn't doing any help. He had just talked about the future queen without any honorifics or respectful words — but he didn't care.

The man led him to the center of the hall before he stopped and placed his right hand on Jongho's waist, his left one lifting their laced hands up. Jongho placed his hand on the man's shoulder, and finally looked up from his shoes, becoming breathless from the very small distance between them.

There was barely more than ten centimeters.

Something in this situation made Jongho think of Seonghwa. This man carried himself just the way the crown prince of Seori did, which was very honourable. 

God, he missed Seonghwa. And they had barely talked to each other. 

Jongho was waken up from his Seonghwa-filled thoughts when the man started moving slowly, which made Jongho stumble a bit. He was a bit drunk so his legs were heavier than usually.

"You drank?" The man asked, laughing a bit.

Jongho casted a glare on him, and made sure to stay in the rhythm.

"No. I'm just bad at dancing." Jongho muttered.

"Oh, okay. No need to glare." The man chuckled.

Oh wow, he smelled good. He smelled very, very good. Jongho liked that smell a lot. He liked this man a lot! He liked Seonghwa a lot too... a bit too much.

"I didn't glare, I just... stared." Jongho announced a bit too loudly, which made the man laugh again as he span Jongho around.

"Don't spin me, I can't stay u-" Jongho tried to warn the man of his drunk legs. 

The man didn't believe him and did an extra spin, which Jongho was not prepared for, and he began to fall. But luckily the man knew this cliché and grabbed Jongho's waist, holding him safely up.

"You're drunk," the man laughed.

Could he stop laughing? It annoyed Jongho. Well, at the same time it didn't because his laugh was very melodic and beautiful.

"And what about it?" Jongho asked, squeezing the man's shoulder harder.

The man leaned closer to Jongho just like the women had done— Jongho didn't feel scared though, but oddly safe.

"Your dad wouldn't like if he found out, Your Highness."

Jongho was too drunk by now to realize that the man seemed to know who he was. He was focused on a totally different thing, which was the man. As simple as that.

"He won't know." Jongho said, immediately almost falling again due to his slow legs.

"Let's believe in that for a while, so maybe it becomes true." The man smirked, a teasing lilt in his voice.

Jongho glared at him, but enjoyed dancing around. 

His heart was probably going to jump out of his chest if he didn't stop dancing. Jongho was drunk on alcohol and the feeling of dancing with another man instead of a woman, and it made his head spin with happiness. It made him smile widely, it made him actually put effort to dancing. It made him so, so happy.

Jongho closed his eyes and squeezed the man harder, as if he was scared the man was going to leave him. They swirled around the Great hall as the beautiful sound of a haegeum led them forward, and for the first time in his life, Jongho felt complete.

But when he opened his eyes, still a wide smile on his face, his eyes met a pair of familiar ones. 

A woman dressed up in dark blue hanbok was watching him dance with her hands crossed against her chest — and Jongho knew exactly who she was.

Han Sunhwa, Jongho's soon-to-be bride, and the crown princess of Haegol stared at him with almost flashing eyes. Jongho didn't know if they flashed with the lights in the hall or pure hatred — but he didn't really want to know.

Cold feeling crept up his back, making Jongho stiffen and shiver. This was not how it was supposed to go. 

Sunhwa's eyes drilled straight to Jongho's head as if she knew what was going on. Her face was so unapproving that Jongho felt like a puppy being scolded.

Jongho pushed the man away from him with a strength he didn't know he was possible of having while drunk, and stormed away. The man stumbled back, almost falling over, but Jongho didn't even try to apologize.

His steps were faltering and slow despite the hurry he was in. Jongho wanted to, no, he needed to get out. His secret could be out any second from now, which made his throat close up and breath came out as wheezes.

People stared at him as he ran, looking like a drunkard, which he was not too far from. He knew he had gathered a lot of eyes on him, but even the thought of someone finding out that he desired men was enough to keep his half asleep legs moving.

The castle was too big and undiscovered for Jongho to be able to find back to his chamber, which he desperately wanted to do. Maybe bury himself under the blankets and wait for his father's fury and wrath. 

Jongho had absolutely no idea where he was, but if he didn't get some time alone now, he was scared his throat would close completely up with the non-pleasurable emotions he was feeling.

Jongho bumped into a drawer and let out a silent train of cursewords, his eyes spinning. Why had he drank anything? His brains felt like cotton. 

But he made it out. He somehow magically found a door out, and when Jongho inhaled that fresh air, his tight throat opened a bit and he was able to breathe a bit better. 

Jongho slowed down to walk and walked deeper into the garden, focusing his eyes on his trembling, dumb legs so he didn't fall, even if the ground was perfect to walk on. 

He stopped beside a beautiful rose bush. The roses were vibrant pink, something Jongho had never seen. Maybe they required warmer temperatures than what Jamjari had to offer.

The big castle stood proudly behind Jongho, a good two hundred to two hundred and fifty meters between them. He could easily see the lights coming from the Great hall, and if he really tried to, he could hear the music.

That just reminded Jongho of how much of a disappointment he was.

"God..." Jongho whispered, sitting down on the bench right next to the rose bush.

His legs felt heavy and numb, just like his whole body. The strong alcohol that circulated in his veins made him feel ashamed. He was a prince for god's sake!

Jongho leaned with his elbows against his knees and buried his face in his hands, barely keeping himself from yelling until his vocal chords were raw and bleeding.

Maybe if he was sober, it wouldn't feel that bad, but he had drank quite a good amount of strong alcohol.

The party was made because of him. Purely for him, so he and his wife could meet and talk. It was all for him, just for him and once again, him. Sunhwa had probably taken hours to get herself pretty and ready for Jongho, yet Jamjari's second prince was too much of a... worthless human to ruin everything.

Why, just why had he drank that much? Why was he a weirdo, a disgusting homosexual? Why couldn't he be a normal man?

Curse Park Seonghwa and his perfect face. Curse him for making Jongho fall for the stupid crown prince that had never said more than seven sentences to him.

Jongho felt like crap. 100% pure horse crap.

He heard someone walking towards him on the soft grass. Their steps sounded determined but not angry — so Jongho knew it wasn't his father. But he didn't bother looking. Maybe the person was a gardener working at midnight or so, Jongho didn't know how much the time was.

However, when the steps stopped and someone sat right next to Jongho, he looked up. 

It was the man who Jongho had danced with. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he felt relieved or not.

"Are you okay?" The man asked, his rich voice sounding very, very gentle.

Jongho was about to do what he could do the best: flash an ugly fake smile and nod, but his drunk persona didn't have the energy to do that. Meeting Sunhwa like this had drained him completely empty, so Jongho just shrugged.

"Want to talk about it?" The man asked, shuffling even closer to Jongho who now leaned against the back of the bench.

"Are you willing to listen?" Jongho asked back, his voice lacking everything it had had before; he didn't bite back, even if he wanted his words to be a bit aggressive.

"Of course." 

"Are you willing to hear what kind of shitty person I am?" Jongho asked.

If he was sober, he would've never called himself shitty. He always tried to keep his head up so the crown didn't slip, but now that there was nothing blocking his thoughts, everything that entered his mind also came out.

"I am willing to listen to what you say, but whether you are a shitty person or not is going to be decided by me after you're done." 

Jongho sighed and nodded, tilting his head up to look at the sky. Was he brave enough to say it? It could ruin his entire life, but then again, Sunhwa probably knew too. 

"I like men. Disgusting, isn't it?" Jongho asked, chuckling weakly. On the inside, he didn't really think of it as disgusting after feeling what he had felt while dancing with the man. Once in his life, he had felt actually complete.

"I don't think it's disgusting at all." The man answered.

Jongho stared at the moon for a little more before turning to look at him.

"You don't?" Jongho asked.

"No. Love is just love, isn't it?"

Jongho studied the man's face for a while before nodding hesitantly.

"Am I the first one that knows?" The man continued asking.

"Yeah. I can't really go around yelling it," Jongho answered.

"It's an honour. What made you run away, though?" 

Jongho closed his eyes.  
"I shouldn't be talking about this to strangers, but you know too much already, so..." He started.

"I'm getting married to Han Sunhwa because that's the only way we can become allies. She's ten years older than me, and a woman. Who just saw me dance with a man in a party that was made for her." Jongho explained, sighing and suddenly feeling very drained of energy.

"Made for her?"

"Yeah. The whole party was held because I needed to be a prince charming and find my soon-to-be wife. Yet here I am, drunk, and sitting in the garden because holy mother nature do I feel bad." 

The man pulled Jongho closer, and Jongho rested his head on the man's shoulder, tears springing to his eyes.

"I am a prince. I can't even think of how disappointed my father would be if he knew what was going on." 

The man just hummed, letting Jongho explain his drunken thoughts now.

"God, I hate my life." Jongho whispered, all the bottled feelings coming out now. He blinked the tears away.

"Everyone thinks being a royalty is so much fun and so awesome but really, we are just prisoners. We are the masters of fake smiles and acting."

The man started caressing Jongho's shoulder after stretching his hand to do so. Jongho just silently let the tears leave his eyes and absorb themselves into the fabric of Jongho's mask.

"Are you tired?" The man asked very, very softly, and Jongho nodded.

"Yeah. I would like to go sleep."

"Let's go, then. I'll escort you."

Jongho stood up carefully, the man still keeping him up by holding his shoulder. Jongho squeezed the man hard to keep himself up, and finally the two of them left the garden.

The man led him through the dark hallways, turning and turning until they arrived at Jongho's bedchamber.

Jongho stopped at the doors and turned to look at the man hesitantly.

"In the end of these parties people take off their masks, don't they?" He asked.

The man looked up at him, and nodded.  
"Yeah. They do."

"Would you be up for that?" Jongho asked. He wanted to know who he had felt safe with.

The man hesitated, but lifted his hands up to untie his mask. Jongho did the same, and at the same time, they dropped their masks.

Jongho's breath hitched. 

Seonghwa stood in front of him in his glory, rocking the white and gold hanbok. He smiled a bit before bowing.

"Good evening, Your Highness."

Jongho quickly bowed back, still feeling speechless.  
"Good evening, Crown Prince Seonghwa." He said, voice trembling.

So Seonghwa was the one he had just poured his heart to? He was the one Jongho had felt absolutely adored with? Who had actually accepted him?

It all clicked now. The familiar voice, scent and features as well as the smirk he always had. It also explained why Jongho's idiot heart had been way too happy through the night.

"Sleep well, Prince Jongho. We'll see tomorrow." Seongwha said before he turned around and disappeared into the dark hallway.

Finally, Jongho's drunk legs gave out, and he fell to the floor to his butt and breathed out slowly, mouth hanging open.

Seonghwa had wanted to dance with him. Seonghwa had cared enough to ask how he was. Seonghwa had let Jongho pour everything out.

Seonghwa really was his prince charming, wasn't he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo! How are you guys? I hope you’re all healthy and safe. Saturday is here again and so is my jonghwa!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We now have only two more chapters left. Omg, this has went by so fast! Luckily, I am almost done with the 4th chapter of the next one hahahah.
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/cloudyjjongie?s=21) and [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/Cloudyjongho)


	5. Rain

When Jongho woke up the next morning, his head ached and his stomach felt a bit queasy. God, why had he drank strong drinks if he knew it would affect him like this? Of course it would, he had ridden a horse for hours in blazing sun, he had been very dehydrated. And soju did not count as a hydrating drink.

Jongho sat up, opening his eyes carefully, trying to avoid getting the sun to his eyes. Thankfully the curtains were dark and heavy, so the sun was blocked very well.

He could feel the dull thumping in his head, and Jongho carefully reached for the glass of water before downing it in one swift motion. His mouth was as dry as a desert, but atleast the water helped a bit.

It wasn't the worst hangover he had had, so if he just got some food in, he would be just fine throughout the day. If he looked presentable, that was the thing. 

Jongho stood up and tiptoed to the nearest mirror, taking a look, and letting out a sigh of relief. Only a bit of whatever powder they always used on his skin would save the day.

Jongho glanced at the clock. He still had fifteen minutes to spend before servants would come in and make him pretty again. 

Today he would need to meet Sunhwa for real. Even the thought of that made Jongho's stomach feel bad again, and for a moment he considered going to bathroom and puking his guts out. Because if Sunhwa really knew what was going on, there was no way it was still a secret. Jongho had failed his only job yesterday, and today he would hear about it.

His memory of yesterday night was a bit hazy, but he still remembered the most dramatic parts, which were probably crying while leaning against the man who had later revealed to be Seonghwa. What had made Haegol's future king ask Jongho to dance? Or take care of him? It surely couldn't be feelings, could it? Even if he accepted Jongho, he could never be gay. 

Who knew? Maybe Seonghwa was too. He carried himself so proudly that maybe he was out to his parents?

Atleast now Jongho was very sure that he was head over heels for the man, and that didn't mean anything good when he was supposed to be married to a woman very soon.

Jongho decided to start by himself, and he filled up the bathing tub with water before stepping in and sitting down. He washed away the sticky sweat that had formed on his skin during the night, and the remainings of makeup as well. He had dismissed his servants yesterday, because if they knew Jongho had drunk, the word would've been around the castle in ten minutes. Servants gossiped.

When Jongho finally felt clean and fresh enough, he stepped out and grabbed a towel, drying himself and his long hair. He had always hated it because it was hot and required a lot of care, but all royals had to have long hair. It was pretty yes, but Jongho always wondered how would he look with short hair.

If a royalty cut their hair, it meant that they weren't royalties anymore. It was a non-written rule everyone knew. A part of Jongho wanted to cut his hair so he could be free, but then again, his father would force him to stay and make him wear a wig until his hair grew back.

The servants came in, and Jongho let them dress him up in a beautiful red hanbok. He absolutely adored these clothes, they were so beautiful. 

The hanbok was very long, and had the vest-like structure that reached his ankles as well. 

"I will do your face now, Your Highness." The servant announced, and after Jongho did nothing to stop her, she began dabbing the powder to Jongho's face.

Jongho let himself close his eyes. Liptint was added to his lips, and even a bit of very dark brown pen contrasted his eyes. He looked very different, but it was a good difference. 

His hair was just brushed. They would let it be free today, and Jongho didn't really mind it. 

"The breakfast is about to start, Your Highness."

Jongho nodded and stood up, taking in his reflection in the mirror. Now that he knew Seonghwa was here, he paid more attention again.

He was having wishful thinking again.

Jongho smiled to the servants, and waited until Youngguk arrived. The two of them started walking together.

"Did you enjoy the party yesterday, Your Highness?" Youngguk asked.

"It was delightful," Jongho lied comfortably.

"I'm glad to hear that." Youngguk answered, and stopped talking. Here Youngguk was his knight, not his friend. Back at home? Youngguk was his big brother and friend before a knight. 

Youngguk bowed when they arrived at the dining hall, and Jongho smiled, bowing a bit back. Never too much.

The doors were already open, and he could hear loud chatter, so everyone else was probably already there. Somehow Jongho was almost always the last one to arrive.

He walked in, smiling and bowing respectfully.

"He's finally here." Haegol's king's, Kyungsam's, loud, low and snappy voice said.

If Jongho's father and Sangwook were the definitions of sun kings, the kind and smiling ones, Kyungsam was an ice king. He was a big, big man with strict, glaring eyes and a dark beard. He ruled his kingdom with an ironfist. That was the reason Jamjari and Seori hadn't really agreed on being Haegol's friends, but if they didn't do this now, they would be the next victims of Haegol's wrath.

First Jongho didn't have the courage to even look at Kyungsam. Like he had guessed, everyone else was there. They all stood up, and got ready to greet Jongho. He saw Seonghwa and his dad, Sangwook, there too.

But Jongho had no time to greet them because Kyungsam's heavy steps neared him, and Jongho finally had to look up.

Kyungsam stopped right in front of Jongho, in all his glory, head reaching almost 2 meters and probably near 200 kilograms. He was a man of pure muscle.

Jongho forced a kind smile even if he felt like an young tree next to a hurricane. Kyungsam was massive and Jongho hated standing next to the cold-hearted king.

"Nice to finally meet, Your Majesty." Jongho greeted, filtering the fear out of his voice and bowing deeply, deeper than a royalty should, but he didn't want to anger Kyungsam.

If Sunhwa had told Kyungsam of what had happened yesterday, Jongho would be dead in less than three seconds.

Kyungsam's eyes raked through Jongho's body, probably unapproving the makeup. Jongho wasn't as muscular as his brother, but he was still in a very good shape. Junhong just was a muscle pig. But even Jongho's tall brother was nothing compared to Kyungsam.

"So nice of you to join us, Prince." Was the cold reply Jongho got.

So Kyungsam hated him already. That made Jongho's heart spike up with fear.

Jongho just gave Kyungsam another tight smile before looking for anything else to do. He saw Sunhwa now, without the mask. Jongho felt so bad.

Sunhwa was so beautiful. She probably deserved the best man in the world, but here she was, getting married to Jongho.

"Meet your future wife, Sunhwa." Kyungsam growled with his scary voice and pulled Sunhwa surprisingly gently towards Jongho.

But today, her eyes were the complete opposite of what Jongho had seen yesterday.

She looked at Jongho with very soft and gentle eyes, a small smile tugging on her lips. That made Jongho feel even worse.

He was a complete child and an asshole next to her.

"Nice to meet you again." Sunhwa greeted him, which almost stopped Jongho's bow mid-way. Again? Was Sunhwa lying for him?

"You two met yesterday at the party, right?" Jongho's father asked.

Jongho's heart jumped to his throat.

"Yes, of course. Prince Jongho found me almost straight away, and we danced to two songs." Sunhwa lied, her smile never changing to anything else but kind.

Shame and guilt choked Jongho. He felt so bad that blush crept up his face and ears. Jongho forced yet another smile and nodded, glancing at Seonghwa, who was watching them.

"That's very good to hear! I was afraid Jongho would chicken out before even finding you." Jongho's father joked, making the blush on Jongho's face darken.

That's exactly what he had done.

"We should sit back down, Prince Jongho. You are probably very hungry." Sunhwa said to Jongho with her low and soft voice, and Jongho only nodded, looking for a free seat.

He sat down between Seonghwa and Junhong, and tried to dig in to the food, but he just couldn't.

He had been so mean to Sunhwa yesterday when all she did was protect Jongho from their parents' wrath. Plus, he still felt a bit queasy in his stomach, so Jongho only ended up lifting the noodles up and putting them back to the soup. Junhong glanced at him, but said nothing.

Everyone else was chatting happily with each other, even Kyungsam. But Jongho just took another sip of his tea.

The breakfast went on, but even if Jongho tried, he couldn't get anything down his throat. 

That's when his left thigh was tapped. Jongho flinched, but calmed down, and glanced at Seonghwa who had touched him.

Seonghwa lifted his brows up and tilted his head towards Jongho's still full bowl of noodles and soup. Jongho just stared back. Seonghwa wanted him to eat? Or did he want to eat Jongho's food? That made no sense, he could've just asked for more.

Seonghwa mouthed 'eat' and stared at Jongho intensively. Jongho lifted his brows up. Seonghwa mouthed 'you'll feel better' and continued staring until the prince of Jamjari gave up and grabbed the chopsticks, taking the noodles again. He glanced at Seonghwa who was still watching him, and brought the food to his mouth.

Seonghwa had been right, after his very empty stomach got some food in, Jongho didn't feel sick anymore. He ate more and more while Seonghwa watched him with a pleased smile.

"I think Crown Princess Sunhwa and Jongho should have a moment just for themselves to get to known each other. Would that be okay?" Jongho's father asked, to which both mentioned royalties agreed to.

When Jongho stood up, his heart was beating fast. He said goodbye to Seonghwa and Junhong quietly and walked to Sunhwa who was waiting for him.

"Let's go to the reading room. I like it the most here." Sunhwa said, smiling gently. Jongho could do nothing but nod and smile back, guilt consuming him on the inside. 

The silence was deafening, but not akward. Sunhwa kept on humming some pretty song while she led Jongho towards the reading room.

"Come on in." Sunhwa opened the doors, and Jongho followed her in.

The room was pretty small, but very, very, cozy. It was lit up with a few candles there and there, their flames dancing as shadows on the walls. Every wall had a sturdy mahogany bookself full of books.

The moment Jongho closed the doors, he immediately let himself drop to the floor to a full bow.

"I'm so, so sorry." Jongho blurted out, hoping that the full bow would let Sunhwa know he was serious.

Royals never did a full bow. It was like submitting completely, and there was no one in the world a prince or king should bow like this to. Well, Jongho had always been a bit more respectful than needed.

"Oh no, please get up, Prince Jongho. I'm not angry at you at all." 

Jongho peeked up, looking at Sunhwa with eyes full of confusion before carefully getting up.

"You're- you're not?" Jongho asked.

Sunhwa just shook her head and smiled.  
"No. I understand, I really do. You're young and freaked out yesterday, which is very understandable, because we had never really met."

Jongho bowed a bit again.

"I'm just.. I'm very sorry, Crown Princess. I didn't find you at all yesterday. I'm sorry for making you lie too, I know it's my fault." Jongho rambled, biting his lower lip after shutting up.

"I said that it's okay, no need to be sad. I understand. You're very young, and I feel bad for tying you up to Haegol."

Jongho swallowed, and sat down next to Sunhwa when she patted the space next to her.

Right, Sunhwa was 30 years old. 

"It's okay. I have already accepted it, I know it's my responsibility to do. Without this marriage, we can never have peace." Jongho said, barely holding in the sigh. He would never want to hurt Sunhwa more.

Even if Jongho had accepted his fate, he still longed for completely different marriage.

"Honestly, I don't like anyone or want to like anyone. I'd rather be alone, but I already see that I don't have a say. But you seem like a cute prince, so I think we're going to get along very well. No one is forcing us to fall in love." Sunhwa said, and Jongho snapped his head to look at her.

So Sunhwa was abnormal too? She didn't like anyone?

"Because what you look for in a marriage is very different from what I can give, but you know, arranged marriages are usually just friendship. And I already see you more as my son of some sort rather than as a husband." Sunhwa said, laughing a bit, so her eyes crinkled up.

Sunhwa truly did know. Her eyes had went straight through Jongho yesterday.

"You don't- is it okay?" Jongho asked, face probably very pale.

"I'm a weirdo too, aren't I? Who sane human wants to be alone for the rest of her life? Besides, you looked so happy yesterday when you danced with him. I felt so bad for taking the smile away from you." 

Sunhwa reached for Jongho's hand, and he gave it to her. Sunhwa's hands were smaller than Jongho's, but they were soft, and she started caressing Jongho's hand.

"Like I have already said many times, you are young and afraid. I just want you to know that never look at me as someone you need to please by kissing or having sex, because I desire neither of those. I am more of your mom, who is willing to help and listen whenever you want to. Okay? Just don't tell your mom that you have another one." Sunhwa said, smiling so prettily.

Jongho smiled a bit and nodded.  
"I won't tell her." He answered.

"Is she here?" Sunhwa asked, and Jongho thought of what to say.

"Probably watching over me," Jongho answered with a soft smile.

Sunhwa's face fell, and she pulled Jongho closer to draw him in a hug.

"I'm so sorry for asking." She muttered, caressing Jongho's hand.

"It's okay. But shouldn't we do something else than be sad? Like get to know each other?" Jongho asked, wanting to change the subject from depressing ones.

"Yes! So, what do you like to do?" Sunhwa asked, brightening up immediately.

Should he play the prince charming role and say fencing? Or fighting? Then again, Sunhwa would be able to catch him lying anyways. 

"I like to read and sing." Jongho confessed quietly, looking for any kind of judgemental signs in Sunhwa's eyes.

"Really? Me too! Maybe we could sing together some time?" Sunhwa asked, her eyes shining excitedly.

Jongho was taken back.

"O-of course! I would love to," He said, smiling very widely now.

"This marriage isn't that bad, is it?" Sunhwa asked, patting Jongho on his thigh.

"Not at all." Jongho answered, smiling.

—

Jongho walked on the hallways of the castle again. He was on his way to his chamber after eating very late dinner with Sunhwa. Time had flewn in the reading room.

Jongho sighed. The cold, dark and heavy-looking stone walls really sucked out his energy. He kept on flinching when he heard the slightest weird sounds.

Jongho sped up. The less he would need to spend on these hallways the better it was. He absolutely despised walking here alone.

He turned to left, eyeing the long hallway before shaking his head and continuing forward. He was a man, he could walk through it.

The hallways felt like they were kilometers long. They continued and continued, only the oil lamps lighting up Jongho's journey. The black mat under his legs felt sticky and soft, so Jongho moved to walk on the stone floor right next to the wall.

Suddenly, he heard laughter.

Jongho stopped on his tracks to listen better. It truly was loud laughter that sounded mad and wicked. Jongho continued walking, heart in his throat and hands squeezed into tight fists. He hurried forward, because now the laughter seemed to be coming from somewhere closer.

Maybe his father and Kyungsam were just drunk and were looking for something? But when the laughter rang again, it didn't sound humane anymore.

It came from somewhere on his left side. It was impossible though, because on his left was yet another stone wall. 

Suddenly something hit the wall on his left, which made Jongho open his mouth to a silent scream and glue himself to the wall on his right. Nothing had been thrown. It was as if the sound had come from inside the wall.

When the wall began to break, stone by stone dropping down, Jongho's brains malfunctioned. He began running back to where he came from, because if he found Sunhwa or just anyone, he would be safe.

But his journey was slowed down by something grabbing his ankles.

Jongho fell over with an alarmed shout and tried to scramble up, but his ankles were tightly tied to the floor. He glanced back to see some kind of vines wrapping themselves around his ankles. Jongho screamed and kicked, trashing. 

Three persons stepped from the hole in the wall, the laughter continuing now. 

Jongho recognized them. The three men from his nightmare, one of them being the fortune teller. That made Jongho kick even harder as tears sprung to his eyes. The men straightened up, rising to their full heights. Jongho tried to yank off the vines with his hands, but all they did was burn him.

"NO, NO PLEASE! PLEASE LET ME GO!" Jongho begged as he saw the men coming closer. They walked with slow, teasing steps.

He began to see the completely white and black eyes, black claws and sharp fang-like teeth again. Jongho's insides twisted with fear, and god, he was sure he was going to die.

"STOP! STAY RIGHT THERE!" Jongho yelled so hard that they came out as raspy yells that broke in the end. Tears slid down his face.

The three men were only two steps away from him, but now the vines let go of him. Jongho scrambled up and got ready to begin running again, but when he looked up, he had to stop.

The hallway he had just come from ended right in front of him. It was blocked with same kind of black stone like everything else.

The oil lamp on his right flickered, and Jongho let out a shuddering breath. White smoke blew out of his mouth, and only now he realised how cold it was.

When the oil lamp went out, the last crumbs of hope left Jongho.

The three men were coming closer, so Jongho just turned around to face them. Tears streamed down his cheeks and he swallowed, body numb but trembling. Jongho inhaled deeply, staring at the three men. He tried to keep the screams in, but when the first clawed hand reached for him, he screamed again.

"PLEASE!" Jongho wailed, his legs giving up. 

He crashed to the floor to his knees, pain radiating up his body. He sobbed and closed his eyes, lifting his hands to his ears to silence the continuous laughter. Breathing was hard and he had to wheeze for air. 

Fingers touched his head and buried themselves in his hair, and Jongho screamed again. But instead of hurting him, they gently turned his head to lift his eyes off the floor.

The same person from last time was behind him again. Jongho felt the man lift him up before pressing Jongho's back against his chest, just like last time.

"You don't need to be alone." The man whispered to his ear with low voice, but Jongho could only concentrate on the fortune teller who was right in front of him, mouth twisted and smiling so widely that Jongho saw the skin break and the smile reach his ears.

"Your fate has been decided, Your Highness." The fortune teller hissed, his long snake-like tongue darting out of his mouth.

"And it is to be fulfilled."

That's when Jongho woke up.

He sat up, eyes blown wide and heaving for air. Jongho's heart was about to jump out of his chest, but what scared him the most were the actual tears that were drying on his face.

He was terrified. This was the second nightmare with the three men. It was similar with the first one, except for the place. This dream was situated here, in Haegol, wherein the last one had been at home.

Who was the man behind him? And why did he force Jongho to face his fears, but still at the same time protect him from them?

And what on earth was his fate? He had gone completely mad because he actually believed that fortune teller.

Jongho sighed and massaged his sweaty forehead. He did not want to go walk on those hallways, but he needed to get out. 

Jongho and Sunhwa had ended up sleeping on the same bed — because their fathers had decided it was the best thing to do, as if they had magically fallen in love in eight hours. They hadn't, but they had formed a good friendship.

It had been weird to fall asleep next to a woman you were going to marry but had met on the same day. But luckily, it wasn't akward and both of them kept their sides. Sunhwa had given Jongho's forehead a small kiss that had had the prince blushing and Sunhwa laughing her ass off. She enjoyed being Jongho's mother way too much.

Jongho glanced at Sunhwa, who was luckily asleep. He stood up silently and grabbed an oil lamp from the table, stepping into his shoes. He pondered on whether to take a sword too, but taking one would make him look dumb, so he just walked to the door.

Jongho peeked out of the door, looking for any crazy men, but luckily the hallway was empty and bright. He closed the door and began walking with long, hurried steps.

He turned left, then to right, then to right again before walking down the stairs. A knight greeted him silently, and Jongho just bowed a bit back, hoping that the knight didn't find him weird for walking around with an oil lamp in the middle of a night.

Jongho finally got outside and inhaled the fresh air. It made his mind loosen up and heartbeat calm down. He walked deeper into the garden, enjoying the colorful flowers and calming sound of a fountain.

He stopped at the fountain, sitting down on its edge. The wind played with his hair and the wrinkled hanbok he had not bothered taking off before falling to the bed.

"Are you okay?"

Jongho flinched at the sound of Seonghwa's voice. He turned to look at the crown prince and thought of what to say.

Yes. Was he? No. He just saw the worst nightmare ever.

No. Would that just make Seonghwa think he looked for attention? Then again, Seonghwa had asked if he was okay.

So Jongho just shrugged. Despite having fun with Sunhwa, he was still in the middle of a war with his heart.

Seonghwa sat down next to him, looking at Jongho with concerned eyes.  
"Did something happen with Sunhwa?" He asked.

"No. I just had a nightmare." Jongho answered, unconsciously leaning against Seonghwa.

Seonghwa brought his hand up to wrap it around Jongho's shoulders.  
"Do you want to talk about it?"

Jongho shook his head.

"Okay. It'll be okay, it was just a dream."

Yeah, it was just a dream. But the dream felt so real and so personal that it drove Jongho crazy.

"Why are you up?" Jongho asked.

"Me? I woke up for no reason. I don't even know why. Then I wanted to get some fresh air, and well, I saw you coming here."

Jongho nodded, sighing.  
"This place doesn't feel like home." He muttered.

"This castle probably seems very sturdy and dark for you." Seonghwa stated.

"Does it not seem like that for you?"

"Not at all. Our castle in the North is even sturdier than this one. It's not as dark, it's well lit up, but you know, North is North. We have the winters." Seonghwa answered.

"I have always wanted to visit Seori." Jongho said.

"Really? Maybe one day you'll get to visit it," Seonghwa chuckled, taking Jongho's hand (that had been anxiously tapping his own thigh) and caressing it.

Jongho smiled and nodded.  
"I hope so."

They fell quiet, and Jongho stared at the stars on top of them. But something in the woods caught his attention.

Something moved between the trees. Jongho narrowed his eyes to see better in the dark, but he couldn't see properly.

"Seonghwa?" Jongho asked, straightening up.

Seonghwa hummed.

"Do you see something in there?" Jongho asked, standing up and pointing at the woods.

That made Seonghwa stand up too. They were both now very well woken up with the feeling of danger. Someone was watching them.

Seonghwa pulled his sword from its place on his waist, and Jongho cursed himself for not bringing his. He would've needed it.

However, there was no use for the sword, because it was an arrow that flew right beside Jongho's head.

His heart jumped to his throat, and he barely had time to react when the second one came. Jongho jumped to the side in the last second, watching how the arrow flew through the air exactly where it would've pierced Jongho's heart.

"They're aiming at you!" Seonghwa hissed, and Jongho was about to answer when the third arrow came. It didn't hit him because Jongho was quick on his feet.

What were they going to do? Running wasn't going to help, because the shooter would still hit. They were completely defenseless.

When Jongho looked at the forest again, he saw the familiar dark blue hanbok and mask. His heart jumped to his throat. 

The shooter was the woman who had called herself Jongho's worst nightmare! That made Jongho freeze. She really was an assassin!

Jongho froze. Everything slowed down for a moment and he couldn't move. Those dark eyes pierced through him, mocking him. 

Seonghwa's brains seemed to work faster than Jongho's, because he pulled Jongho with him to stand behind a tree, pulling Jongho into a tight hug, turning his own back to the woman to shield Jongho. The tree wasn't enough to cover Seonghwa's back completely, but it was better than nothing.

Seonghwa's hands were wrapped around Jongho's middle and head, his right hand pressing Jongho's head to his chest as he yelled.

"GUARDS! AN ASSASSIN IS IN THE FOREST!"

Jongho squeezed Seonghwa like his life depended on him. Well, it did, because without him Jongho would be dead.

The constant arrow-rain stopped when dozens of knights came towards them running, swords and arrows ready to fight. Knights with horses rode straight to the woods to catch the woman.

Seonghwa relaxed and let out an exhale.  
"God, that was so close." 

Jongho didn't say anything. He just squeezed his arms that were wrapped around Seonghwa's waist and inhaled the good scent.

"Hey. It's okay, it's over. No need to be scared anymore." Seonghwa whispered to his ear, and finally Jongho let go.

He distanced himself from Seonghwa and put his hands on his hips, turning his face to look at the sky.

"This is the scariest evening of my life." Jongho muttered.

Seonghwa smiled.  
"But you made it through the scary things, right? Now you're with me and the knights."

Jongho nodded and turned his head back to normal.  
"Thank you." Jongho thanked him.

"My pleasure. The least I can do is to make sure the man who's getting married in two days is alive," Seonghwa said, chuckling dryly.

Jongho's stomach twisted. Right, tomorrow was his last day as a single prince.

"God, I need some good sleep." Jongho muttered.

Seonghwa laughed.  
"Let's go get some, then. I'll escort you to your room."

"No, please escort me to my brother's room. There is no way I'm sleeping alone tonight."

Seonghwa laughed again but looked like he had something to say. Jongho almost wanted to ask what it was, but as quickly as the expression had come it also disappeared, so he didn't bother.

But really, sleeping next to Seonghwa would've been better and safer than with Junhong. Because god, his crush was so deep that there was no coming back.

He was indeed in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and happy saturday!
> 
> How are you? How did you like the chapter? It was the second last one... next week we have the finale. I’m so sad.😔
> 
> Anyways! Some of you might’ve noticed that I made Sunhwa an ace, asexual. I have wanted to write a character like that for a long while, and now I got the chance! And we also got Seonghwa being a knight in shining armor. Loving it.
> 
> What do you think is going to happen next week? The wedding’s in two days....
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/cloudyjjongie?s=21) and [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/Cloudyjongho)


	6. Sweaty, squirming little prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The finale.

Jongho's last day as a man without a wife was nothing extraordinary.

From the moment he woke up to breakfast, it was normal. Then he had to hold the trial to execute the assassin from yesterday — which was a quite interesting way to start a day. The woman's body hit the floor with a loud thump, empty eyes of the head that was no longer connected to its body staring straight at Jongho. That took away his hunger, but Junhong didn't take Jongho's excuse to not to eat well. 

Junhong stuffed Jongho so full that the prince wondered if fitting into his wedding hanbok was still possible. No, he didn't really mean that, but Junhong hit him for being stupid.

Jongho's father was unusually quiet, Kyungsam unusually loud — Sunhwa couldn't stop cooing and smiling at Jongho, Seonghwa couldn't stop staring at Jongho. 

The crown prince's eyes were on him all the time. First it felt uncomfortable but not unwelcome, because the crown prince was Jongho's crush after all.

After the breakfast Jongho spent hours in the garden, just dozing off under a tree. The next thing was lunch, and he was stuffed full yet again. After lunch Jongho made his way to the libray to read. Haegol's library had books Jongho had never even heard of, so if he needed to list one good thing about the marriage, that would be it.

Still, the guilt killed Jongho on the inside. Sunhwa was nothing but kind towards him — nothing but the perfect wife to a man. Even after the conversation they had held Jongho still couldn't forgive himself completely.

While feeling bad about not being able to like Sunhwa, he was pulled towards Seonghwa. He was about to throw himself away, but atleast Sunhwa was nice and understood him. 

God, why did his two lovers have similar names too? Jongho's life must be a joke to whoever controlled it.

But would Jongho's feelings towards Seonghwa disappear? Honestly, Jongho doubted it. Maybe some day they would fade and fade until Jongho no longer even remembered them. But then, Haegol and Seori would meet to negotiate on something, and boom, Seonghwa would be the handsome king that would sweep Jongho off his feet again.

So no, probably not.

Even if years passed, even if Jongho aged and the word 'love' lost its meaning, Jongho would still be hooked like a fish. Never in his life had he felt these feelings. Forgetting your first love was the same things as forgetting a piece of your life.

Maybe some day Jongho and Sunhwa would welcome Seori's people to Haegol, the doors would open and Seonghwa with his crown would enter. Maybe Jongho would break down at the sight of the man that drove him almost crazy — maybe he would forget how to speak, but on top of those reactions, his feelings would surface. There was no question of that, and it made Jongho anxious.

Because battling with these emotions ever again would be torturous.

Jongho flippd to the next page of the book lazily, and glued his eyes on it. 

The castle still felt so unfamiliar to him. Jongho didn't know if he would ever be able to get used to it, to stop being scared of it. The atmosphere was eerie, gloomy, heavy... the air felt tensed and static.

One day Kyungsam would die, and Jongho would be the king alongside Sunhwa. Of course, he would have less power than Sunhwa since he was a simple prince, not a crown prince, but his title would still be king.

That was a thing Jongho had never even thought of. Ever since he had been old enough to understand that Junhong would be the one to rule Jamjari, Jongho had thought like it. He would be a supporter, a side character. But there he was, getting married to a crown princess tomorrow. While having his eyes on Seonghwa.

"Your Highness?" 

Jongho looked up, and saw the stable boy he had asked to prepare a horse from.

"Yes?" 

"The horse is ready, like you asked. I have also informed the guards and Your Majesty that Your Highness is leaving for a ride." The stable boy said, bowing.

"Thank you. I'm coming immediately with you." Jongho answered, placing the book on the table and closing it after pressing the page number to his mind.

"What kind of horse did you prepare?" Jongho asked.

"An young stalliod. He's one of our best horses, fast and agile yet very, very strong." The stable boy said as the two of them walked outside.

"Do you think I can handle him?" Jongho asked, smiling a bit. He tended to be a bit too soft.

"Absolutely, Your Highness." 

Jongho nodded, and followed the stable boy.

The stable was big and dark, just like everything in Haegol. But the seal brown stalliod took Jongho's attention. Just like the stable boy had said, the horse was big, strong and beautiful.

"Woah." Jongho gasped, and walked towards it faster. 

He slowed down while approaching the horse so he wouldn't scare it, and gently brought up his hand.

The horse didn't seem to mind him, or his hand, so he just walked closer until he was standing right beside him.

"What is your name, pretty boy?" Jongho asked, slowly lifting his hand up again so the stalliod could  
smell it.

"His name is Joong, Your Highness." The stable boy answered.

"Really? Nice to meet you Joong, I'm Jongho. Our names almost match." Jongho said fondly, finally caressing Joong's neck.

Joong reminded Jongho of Seonghwa's horse, Chudae. He was strong, big and scary but beautiful. 

Jongho caressed the horse's neck for some time, humming softly to win his trust. He wanted to form a bond between them, riding would be easier with that.

The stable boy offered help but Jongho refused, heaving himself to the horse's back easily with practiced graceousness.

A stalliod's back always felt a bit too high at first, but Jongho got used to it quickly. He felt a bit jittery, knowing well just how much power he had under him now.

"Alright. Let's go, boy." Jongho said, smacking his lips and giving Joong the tiniest amount of touch to the sides to get the horse moving.

The stable was left behind, and Jongho just let Joong walk forward. He followed the path Sunhwa had talked about so he could find the stream he had wanted to go to.

The South was pretty. It was so beautiful that Jongho wanted to remember it forever. But he also wondered what the North was like. Maybe one day he could see the North, feel its crispy cold air and touch the heavy, white snow.

The path was pretty shallow, but still just perfect for Joong and him. Riding with Joong felt easy, as if Jongho was riding his very own Jiseon. 

He followed the path, humming a song he had heard just before. The forest was quiet but still loud — some of the birds were probably asleep, because he only heard one kind of chirping. Jongho would've been asleep too if it wasn't for Sunhwa recommending riding to the stream.

Jongho began seeing the another path Sunhwa talked about, so he continued to the left. He squeezed Joong's sides with his legs and started trotting.

The familiar sound of the ground taking the hits caused by their trot made Jongho smile. 

Joong was indeed a strong horse, a very good one. If his father wanted to take Jiseon back home, maybe Jongho could have Joong then. 

The stream came quicker than Jongho had expected, so he slowed down to walk again before stopping completely and getting down. He patted Joong on his neck and smiled, tying him to a tree to make sure Jongho wouldn't need to walk back. Which was pretty much impossible, Joong was probably very well trained, but Jongho didn't take risks.

He turned to look at the stream. 

Sunhwa had called it a Fountain of Future, and Fountain of Fears — apparently it had many names. Why was it called a fountain when it was a stream, that Jongho didn't know. He had brought a small gold coin he could throw in to get some good luck though, which he needed. The coin would travel down the stream to its end, where the wish or luck would slowly become true.

Jongho adored the big trees for a while. He wondered if they would know what to do in his situation, because they were old and wise. Jongho was young and reckless.

He sat on the edge of a rock beside the stream, swirling the coin in his fingers. He still couldn't hear any other sounds than the quiet rustling of the trees and leaves, chirping of some birds and the small, comforting sound of the stream.

Jongho looked at the water. It was very clear, like crystal. The place itself was beautiful, way more beautiful than what he had seen in his home. Oh, how much he wanted to see the North too. 

Maybe in the North he would see the citizens of the kingdom, that were all beautifully pale like snow. Their hair was probably the same very dark brown, almost black color what Sangwook and Seonghwa had. Maybe they were effortlessly pretty, skilled and kind too, like their royalties.

Maybe Jongho would see Seonghwa dressed in heavy winter clothes, maybe he would see Seonghwa rivalling the beauty and paleness of the snow.

Seonghwa truly was something else. 

He was so handsome that Jongho's throat felt tight. Seonghwa was too good to be true. One day Seori would have the prettiest and the best king it could ever have, because Seonghwa radiated so powerful, so strong yet so caring and loyal aura. He was nothing Jongho had ever seen.

Towards Jongho, Seonghwa was a bit cocky maybe — thoughtful and kind too, but definitely cocky. Maybe it was his nature, or maybe he just liked to play around Jongho. 

Around Seonghwa, Jongho was a bit more shy than usually. He probably had hearts in his eyes, but those hearts died down too when he remembered the situation he was in.

Jongho squeezed the coin before shaking the thoughts out of his head. He dropped the coin and stared as it sank, the water engulfing the shiny piece of metal completely. Then the current of the stream took a hold of the coin and began moving it down.

Suddenly Jongho began listening more closely. He glanced up, because the loud yet beautiful chirping of a bird was replaced with the ugly sounds of a crow. 

Jongho sighed. The noise the bird made was so sharp and rough that it made his ears hurt. There went the mystical, beautiful atmosphere.

But when he began to stand up, a group of crows took off from a tree. The crows continued making the annoying noise as they flew away, one by one.

Jongho shivered.

There were few reasons for the crows leaving. Something, or someone, had scared them. The person could be anywhere — a kilometer away from Jongho, five hundred meters away from Jongho, or five meters away from Jongho. The forest was thick and couldn't be seen through. Or maybe they were just bored and decided to leave.

Jongho swallowed. All those creepy nightmares of his filled his mind again, and his imagination began running wild. They were just crows for god's sake, but why was he so scared?

Now that Jongho paid attention, he could heard a twig snap, leaves crumble under pressure, and Joong becoming restless did not help at all. His heart jumped to his throat, and cold sweat began forming on his forehead. It was probably all caused by his wild imagination, but he couldn't calm down.

God, he hated feeling scared.

Jongho decided it was enough. He walked to Joong friskly, not wanting to waste any more time there. He still wanted to live, and his nightmares and the assassin from yesterday didn't help with the fear.

The assassin was dead, but Jongho's imagination couldn't help but suspect that she was a witch that wanted to kill Jongho no matter what it took. He heaved himself up to Joong's back again, gave some commands and began walking, then trotting before finally struck off into canter. 

Jongho led Joong forward, trying to keep himself composed while riding. The last thing he wanted to do was to glance back and fall off. That would be his death, which did not sound too good.

He saw the stables again, but only let Joong relax when he was very near. Sweat glistened on his forehead and he swiped it away before pulling the reins one more time and jumping off.

The stable boy hurried to him, probably wondering why he was away only for such a short time, but didn't question him. Jongho was a prince after all.

Jongho considered walking to Sunhwa and telling about what happened, but Sunhwa didn't know about his nightmares or any scary stuff that had happened in them, so she would probably just laugh at him for being scared of some crows. 

Now that Jongho said it like that it did sound stupid. He was a prince who knew how to use a sword, which he did not carry around, yet he was scared of birds.

Jongho thanked the stable boy and began walking back to the house, only to stop when hearing the clanks of metal against metal.

Jongho searched for the source of that noise and walked towards a pavillion where two men were having a sword fight.

He recognized Junhong's moves right away. Jongho smiled and walked closer to cheer on his brother, but the closer he got, he slowly began recognizing the other man as well. Seonghwa was fighting against Junhong.

Their moves were agile, fast and strong — the fight was much more detailed and skillfuller than what Jongho had seen so far. He had fought against Junhong thousands of times, but his soft older brother always went easy on him, understandably. But now that he saw Junhong fight properly, it was like looking at a completely different human.

Jongho had never seen Seonghwa fight, but the stern look in his eyes was more than enough to tell Jongho that he was a good one. Of course he was, because the fight with Junhong so far didn't have the 'better' person. They were both as good.

Junhong forced Seonghwa to take a few steps back, but Seonghwa answered to it by smirking a bit and doing the same. Their swords collided together with those loud noises that made Jongho crimage a bit, feeling the pain in his ears.

Junhong glanced at Jongho and muttered something to Seonghwa, the both of them stopping now. They were out of breath, like Jongho has expected them to be, and Seonghwa leaned against his knees for a while to wheeze.

"Did you enjoy the fountain?" Junhong asked him.

"Yeah. It was beautiful." Jongho answered, taking a few steps forward now that they weren't fighting anymore.

"Your fighting looked good. Finally you have someone who matches your level," Jongho continued.

"You match my level too!" Junhong grinned, teasing Jongho.

Jongho rolled his eyes.  
"Yeah. I would match your level if you were twelve now."

Jongho heard Seonghwa chuckle.  
"You really haven't taken after Junhong's passion for swords?" He asked.

Jongho shook his head.  
"Not at all."

"But he's still not bad, even if he always tries to avoid training with me by having the stupidest excuses." Junhong answered.

"They're not stupid!"

"Yes they are. Who wants to water roses when it's raining?" Junhong asked with a smug smile, which made Jongho blush. Of course Junhong would embarrass Jongho now, infront of his crush.

"That sounds like a good excuse to me," Seonghwa said, and Jongho turned to look at him. He was smirking.

"See? Even Crown Prince Seonghwa thinks like that." Jongho said, making Junhong chuckle.

"Alright, alright. What if you fight with Seonghwa then and prove that you're good?" Junhong said, not even asked, and threw the sword to Jongho.

Jongho let out an yelp and grabbed it, not wanting to get hit and hurt.  
"No, actually, I think I'm good," Jongho answered.

He would lose so bad.

"No no, just try, okay?" Junhong said, walking to him.  
"Remember what I have taught you."

"Don't be scared, I won't kill you," Seongwha chimed in, his dark eyes on Jongho now.

Jongho did a quick cross on his chest, which made both older males snicker, and walked to the spot Junhong had stood at.

A smug smile was tucking on Seonghwa's lips when he lifted the sword up, getting ready. Jongho mimicked him, swallowing nervously.

The fight began. Jongho attacked straight away, twisting his wrist and taking a few steps forward. Seonghwa blocked the hit easily and lunged forward with his sword coming towards Jongho's side, which he blocked by doing a quick spin and going for Seonghwa's chest.

That try was blocked too, and Seonghwa's sword collided with Jongho's so hard that he almost dropped it. Jongho gathered everything he had and attacked again, more powerfully this time, swinging the sword left and right. 

The sword felt heavy in his hand, but Jongho gritted his teeth together and gave the tiredness no space in his brains. 

Seonghwa's moves became bolder, as if he had been holding back, which he had probably done. Jongho took a few steps backwards and dodged again, his ears firing up because of the pain that came from the sound of two swords scratching against each other.

Seongwha was smiling. He probably saw how much slower and powerless Jongho's attacks came.

So this is why Junhong always wanted him to just hold the sword up.

Jongho began to lose his posture, and his hand trembled. He squeezed the sword harder, but when the next hit came, he couldn't hold it anymore, and the sword dropped.

Jongho froze. He had lost his weapon.

Seonghwa smirked and walked slowly towards Jongho, his sword pointing directly at Jongho's heart. He lifted it up so the tip of it was under Jongho's chin that was now turned towards the ground — and lifted it up.

Jongho's heart skipped a beat or two. Seonghwa stared Jongho straight to his eyes, looking for something, before he let his sword drop too.

Junhong began clapping.

"You did much better than what I thought you would! I'm feeling proud, when did you learn this much?"

Jongho let out a nervous laughter. Of course it didn't have anything to do with Seonghwa, why would it?

"My skill level probably depends on who I fight with," Jongho said, his face slowly turning red.

"You're not bad at all." Seonghwa mused, his eyes still on Jongho.

Junhong smiled, but them pulled Jongho closer by grabbing his shoulder.

"Let's go eat, yeah?"

They got dinner. Jongho eyed the twelve different dishes — only kings and royalties got a feast like that. He ate tons of food again, enjoying the rice cakes, dumplings, pickled vegetables, everything. He didn't know why was he so hungry, but somehow his stomach felt bottomless now, but then again, it was only good. Food was good and very important to a human, and Jongho doubted he could eat on tomorrow morning. 

The wedding was coming closer fast. Now that Jongho started thinking about it, he could almost feel the appetite drain away. 

He tried to get rid of the thoughts, but he felt even stronger feelings, even a stronger bond between him and Seonghwa now than what he had felt yesterday. Was it because of the small actions Seonghwa had done? The sickly-sweet words, or maybe the constant eye-contact with his eyes that actually reflected the nightsky?

Jongho swallowed the noodles, glancing at Seonghwa. He was eating silently as well while their fathers were in a converstion with Kyungsam.

God, just how whipped was Jongho? He even found the muscle on Seonghwa's jaw that showed when he chewed hot!

He was absolutely gone and there was nothing he could do about it. Zero.

"I hope you like the food here, Jongho." Sunhwa's soft voice came from beside him, and Jongho just smiled, nodding and taking yet another dumpling.

He had come to a conclusion that his brains were stupid and couldn't decide what to think, feel or do.

Jongho excused himself and walked back to his room. He didn't have plans for today anymore, so he could just do anything he wanted. It was evening anyways, so going outside the garden was prohibited. Because of the assassin. 

Jongho was alive, thanks to Seonghwa. Yet again his brains had to make the moment about him.

Was Jongho really throwing his life away by being chained to his straight man status? To this marriage? To Sunhwa? He was. 

Jongho decided it was enough, and crawled under the blanket, feeling too full and tired to take off his hanbok. Youngjae would've murdered him with his bare hands if he saw that, but Youngjae wasn't there, so everything was good.

Jongho missed him. He was sad Youngjae wouldn't see him getting married, but taking even one more person with them to Haegol would've cost time and food, so Jongho understood why he wasn't here. Still, it felt bad.

Jongho didn't know how long he lay awake for. He changed the position he was laying at every three minutes, feeling either too cold or too hot. He just couldn't calm down.

He knew he was nervous about the wedding, but even with that he should've already fallen asleep. Jongho had slept so poorly ever since the nightmares had started, because scary things seemed to follow him around. First the nightmares, then the assassin and finally the creepy forest.

The whole castle had fallen quiet now. A few hours ago — atleast that was the amount of time Jongho thought he had already spent rolling around — the sounds of the castle had been comfortably loud. Now it was all quiet, almost too quiet for him. He missed some kind of calming sound he had at home, like the wind playing with trees, but here everything was sealed shut. He couldn't just sleep with his balcony door open.

Jongho stood up. He needed some kind of nature sound now, maybe fresh air would help too. He shouldn't be going to the garden, but who was there to stop him?

Jongho walked through the scary hallways fast, glancing behind his shoulder every now and then. He considered going back and getting his sword, but that felt so dumb, that Jongho continued out.

The slight breeze of the warm wind hit his body immediately, cooling it down but still heating it up. He inhaled the air, but continued deeper to the garden.

The gardener was already asleep too, so Jongho assumed the clock was somewhere around 1 or 2 AM. That meant he had lay in his bed for at least five hours, so Jongho assumed he had fallen asleep at some point but woken up now.

Jongho walked forward, eyeing the flowers. Even after spending few days in Haegol he still found new flowers every time he actually paid attention to them, like now.

The calming sound of a fountain came from Jongho's left, but he walked past that too. He had never walked deeper into the garden than this fountain, but now he felt adventurous, and passed the huge wall made of some sort of bushes that bloomed with a beautiful pink flower.

It was like stepping into another world. The color scheme was different, it was orange and red here. Jongho gasped and smiled. It was so beautiful.

He walked even forward, learning new flowers and seeing them for the first time. He saw yet another fountain and leaned closer, testing the water. It was warm, but cold enough to not to feel suffocating on his skin. Jongho straightened.

"We always meet outside." 

Jongho flinched, almost letting out a scream, but thankfully kept it in. He turned to look at Seonghwa, who was leaning against a tree and smiling.

"Yeah. We do." Jongho answered, hesitantly crossing his hands behind his back to look more like a royalty.

"Seems like the garden at night is something important for both of us. It's a place where we can be alone and our true selves, right?" Seonghwa asked, taking a step towards Jongho.

Jongho nodded, not sure what to say.

"Couldn't fall asleep?" Seonghwa continued asking.

"Yes. I just couldn't. Could be because of the wedding tomorrow." 

Seonghwa hummed, walking closer with slow steps, his dark eyes tightly attached on Jongho.

"You don't want to get married to her, right?" He asked.

Jongho bit his lip.  
"I don't. She's not the person I want to marry." Jongho answered. Seonghwa was so close that Jongho could touch him by reaching for him. Which he really wanted to do.

"You know, I wouldn't be happy with her either." Seonghwa said.

What did he mean? Was Sunhwa not something Seonghwa wanted? What was he talking about?

"Really?" Jongho asked. 

His mouth dried when Seonghwa took the last step to him and stood right in front of Jongho, eyeing him with those intense eyes of his. Jongho could feel the airs on his arms stand up.

"Yeah. I wouldn't be happy with a person like her at all."

No. Seonghwa couldn't possibly be like Jongho? There was no way. Even if he had done things like calling Jongho beautiful, giving him intense stares, small touches, smirks, smiles...

And like that, Jongho finally understood. He had just made a list of all things that really did hint that Seonghwa wasn't a man who loved women.

"Me neither. But I wouldn't be happy alone either."  
Jongho answered quietly, swallowing painfully and looking Seonghwa to his eyes. He tried to search for any hints of joking or amusement, but he could find none.

"You don't need to be alone."

That's when Jongho flinched. His brains added the pieces together, and the realisation hit.

Seonghwa had just said the exact same words than the man behind him in the last nightmare had said. His voice was exactly the same, which Jongho realised only now.

Everything added up. The fortune teller had been talking about something sinful that would happen, which had turned out to be forbidden love. He had talked about two kingdoms becoming one, that couldn't possibly be Seori and Jamjari instead of Jamjari and Haegol? 

Love between two men was forbidden. 

But how was it possible? Jongho had seen the first dream before even knowing what Seonghwa looked or sounded like. He had never even seen a painting of Seonghwa, how could he have him in his dream?

Jongho's thoughts were cut off by Seonghwa reaching for Jongho's head. His sparkling eyes were attached to something on Jongho's hair, but the child-like glint in his eyes disappeared and he withdrew his hand.

"You had a butterfly on your hair." Seonghwa explained, letting his eyes rest on Jongho's eyes.

"R-really?" Jongho croaked out, now not only mouth but throat feeling dry too. 

Seonghwa hummed and stepped even closer so he was just a dozen of centrimeters away from Jongho.

"You know Jongho, you have taken much longer to understand my hints than I originally thought you would."

"I have?" Jongho stupidly answered, his brains working on pure nothing.

"I gave you everything I could to make myself clear, but it wasn't exactly too easy since we are both princes." Seonghwa continued, lifting his chin up, as well as his left brow and looking down on Jongho, making him feel small.

"I really thought I had already lost the chance to even have you, but fortunately I was wrong, and you were still stuck on me despite having to marry a woman." Seonghwa said, and Jongho blushed, looking down. 

At this point Seonghwa was just humiliating him!

Seonghwa's fingers grabbed Jongho's chin and lifted it up to force him to look to his eyes.

"Eyes up here Prince Jongho, otherwise your crown slips." Seonghwa whispered.

"Good boy."

Jongho wanted to pull Seonghwa in by the neck of his shirt, smash their lips together and kiss until they were both so out of breath that they saw stars.

But he was frozen on his spot, and let Seonghwa do whatever he wanted to.

"I called you beautiful in front of our families. I touched your thigh, Jongho, but you thought it was a friendly gesture. Princes don't do that to each other. I even rode here faster just to be able to attend the masquerade ball so I could dance with you, but you still didn't catch my hints?"

Jongho blushed even more and bit his lower lip. Just how dumb had he been?

"Every time I saw you I literally let my eyes lick your whole body. I checked you out so visibly that I'm surprised no one caught me!" Seonghwa said with a chuckle.

"But, fortunately we're both here now, right? We can fix the mistakes, can't we?" Seonghwa finally asked.

Jongho's head span. He was almost feeling dizzy with all the feelings and speaking Seonghwa had done, so all he could do was to grab Seonghwa's right arm and stare at him.

"Oh, now you want to touch me?" Seonghwa asked with a smug smirk.

Jongho began feeling so needy for touches that it felt like his body had catched fire.

"Seonghwa..." Jongho whispered weakly, still not knowing if this was all real.

"Have you earned my touches, or touching me? Hmm? What do you think? I think you've been quite bad, ignoring my signs, trying to forget your feelings towards me and looking forward to being married just like that." Seonghwa teased, pulling his hand away from Jongho's grasp.

Jongho's hand fell back to rest beside his body, and he just gaped at Seonghwa like a fish without water.

"No I, I haven't... haven't done any of that." Jongho finally answered, waking up from whatever space he had been sleeping in.

"You haven't?" Seonghwa asked, lifting his brow up again.

"Yes! I just... I just haven't known how to approach you" Jongho whispered.

"I didn't know if it was possible... And with all these marriage things, I still don't know if anything's possible." He muttered.

Seonghwa was quiet for a while before he placed his hands on Jongho's waist and pulled him closer, pressing his forehead against Jongho's.

"Don't you think love is something you should fight for?" Seonghwa whispered.

"I do. Love is something worth fighting for." Jongho answered.

"Why don't we fight for it then?" Seonghwa whispered, and after Jongho nodded, he pressed his lips against Jongho's.

Jongho's heart catched fire immediately after feeling Seonghwa's lips on his, and he grabbed Seonghwa's chest, pulling him even closer than they were. The kiss was slow and careful, a bit nervous too.

Seonghwa's lips felt soft like just boiled rice cakes. They gave Jongho's lips a few pecks to the corner of his mouth before closing them around Jongho's lip and sucking a bit, making Jongho do it back to him.

Jongho felt like he was on another planet. His mind was going crazy, body reacted with things he did not want to even say out loud, and holy mother of god did it feel good.

Seonghwa's hands roamed down Jongho's waist to his ass where he squeezed the soft flesh, making Jongho's face catch fire before he aggressively pushed Seonghwa, making the older man lose his balance and finally fall with a loud thump.

Jongho dived on top of him and attacked Seonghwa's lips again, not continuing the slow kiss but now letting all the lust out.

Seonghwa's left hand found his waist again, but his right one grabbed Jongho's chin to pull his head away.

Jongho whined. He wanted to kiss more because god it felt good, but Seonghwa's amused but smirking face woke him up.

"Slow down little prince, are you this touch-starved?" Seonghwa asked smugly.

"Of course not, Crown Prince Seonghwa," Jongho answered, rolling his eyes.

"You're definitely a bit too aggressive for a normal amount of lust, pushing me down like that."  
Seonghwa kept on teasing him.

"How about you close your mouth so I can kiss you again?" Jongho hissed.

"By all means, Prince Jongho. I would gladly have you kiss me again, and maybe after that fuck you open until your hole is sore and aching, until it clenches around nothing and drips my cum when I pull out. I would love to have you kiss me so I can make you squirm and cry while pleasure numbs your mind. I would love to, I really would, because a man like you is just made for my cock, your hole is just what I like. You are just what I like." Seonghwa said, his voice dripping lust.

Jongho's cock felt hard. It pressed against the smooth material of his underwear, which caused some good friction.

He would love to be fucked open by Seonghwa.

Jongho smashed his lips against Seonghwa's again, immediately going in for the heated, messy and wet kiss. Seonghwa answered just as aggressively, accidentally making their teeth scratch together while Seonghwa's tongue slipped inside Jongho's mouth. His tongue found Jongho's, and as lewd as it felt, Seonghwa played with it before closing his lips around Jongho's lower lip again, sucking and finally letting his tongue wander back to wrestle with Jongho's.

Jongho decided it was enough for mouth kisses and trailed down, kissing Seonghwa's jaw, jawline, and finally going in for his neck, just getting to know the area there. He was about to suck in a pretty mark when Seonghwa grabbed his hair, yanked it back and rolled them over so he was on top of Jongho. 

"Ready to get rid of your hanbok, Prince Jongho?" Seonghwa asked rather seductively, his long fingers playing with the collar of Jongho's hanbok. Jongho nodded enthusiasticly, and shuddered, feeling a bit moist grass against his neck.

Seonghwa leaned closer and closer and closer until he was breathing against Jongho's sensitive neck. His hot breath brushed the slightly tan skin, and he just nosed it, making Jongho whine a bit, but calm down when he felt something touching his neck.

Seonghwa's teeth sank into his skin, and Jongho let out a weird sound of surprise, pain and pleasure. 

"Your skin is going to be marked by me, so tomorrow even if you are reading your wedding vows, you and we all remember who was it that had you at the gates of Heaven." Seonghwa said, biting again, and Jongho let out a moan.

"Ah!"

Seonghwa sucked on the already sensitive spots that had a mark, and Jongho pressed his eyes closed. He was being almost embarrassingly loud, which also scared him, because if someone heard them they would both die. Literally. 

"What if we get rid of these clothes, hmm?" Seonghwa suggested, and never in his life had Jongho started taking off his clothes that fast.

His fingers trembled, but he managed to untie the knots and shrug off the belt and the vest-like part before reaching for the last layer. Seonghwa helped him and chuckled, having already taken off his vest, the layer closest to his skin hanging open, revealing well defined abs and more of the pale skin.

Jongho kicked off his shoes and lifted his hips up so Seonghwa could pull off his pants, and god was Jongho embarrassed. His cock was so hard and leaked so much precum, that a drop of it slid down his cock.

"You really are needy," Seonghwa commented, reaching for Jongho's cock and pressing his thumb into the slit, smearing the precum around the tip. Jongho let out a shuddering exhale and a whine.

Seonghwa played with the precum, the lewd wet sound making Jongho blush. The crown prince lifted his thumb up and sucked on it, tasting Jongho's precum.

"Delicious." 

"Seonghwa..." Jongho whined, heart beating fast in his chest.

"What, little prince? What do you want?" Seonghwa asked, his voice smooth like honey. He stroked Jongho's cock lazily, pumping up and down slowly, painfully slowly, making Jongho squirm and let out a wail.

Seonghwa's hawk-like eyes watched Jongho strictly, his hand still torturing Jongho.

Jongho began to go crazy. He glanced down, only to see Seonghwa pulling his own pants a bit down with his other hand to free his cock. It was veiny and stood proudly, making Jongho drool a bit. 

Seonghwa probably didn't like Jongho being distracted from the pleasure, so he squeezed harder and picked up the pace of his hand. That definitely snapped Jongho back to earth and he moaned.

"Lord, I'm cumming, I am so cumming..." he wheezed.

Seonghwa smirked and let his thumb caress the slit and the tip of Jongho's cock again, watching how Jongho squirmed and tried to hold back his moans. He massaged some of the precum mixed with spit to his fingers.

"I don't think you can cum yet," Seonghwa claimed, making Jongho pale.

"No, Seonghwa please, I can't take more, I will cum!" He begged. 

Seonghwa just chuckled.  
"Oh honey, you can, and will, take more than just a funny handjob."

Much to Jongho's misfortune, Seonghwa let go of Jongho's cock and grabbed his right leg, lifting it up to his shoulder, making Jongho's ass also lift up. Jongho had to flex his abs to keep himself up.

But Seonghwa decided it wasn't good, so he just pulled Jongho's leg down to the right side, making Jongho turn so he was laying half on his stomach and half on his left side.

His right leg was up beside his body in a 90° angle, but before Jongho could move, hands grabbed his ass cheeks.

"Such a pretty hole you have. Ever had something inside it?" Seonghwa asked.

"N-no," Jongho answered, feeling very humiliated.

The slightly cool grass felt ticklish against his sensitive nipples, and Jongho thanked god for not having to move, because the friction of the grass on his nipples and cock would make him explode any moment. His cock ached.

"Pure virgin hole, all for me." Seonghwa growled, his voice even deeper and raspier now. 

Jongho gasped when the first wet finger trailed on the rim of the muscles around his hole, and blush took over his face permanently. But when the finger began sinking in, he couldn't help but grab the grass, ripping some of it so they were squeezed inside his fist.

The feeling was funny and a bit painful, but not too bad. It burned and felt uncomfortable, but Jongho didn't hate it. 

The finger sank in deeper, making Jongho gasp and almost curse. He hadn't known how sex between men felt because he had no experience of it. The only thing he knew was the penetration, thanks to the small and very well hidden book he had managed to sneak in. It was an erotic book he always loved to read.

"You sound so wrecked already, and I only have one finger in. I'm going to ruin you Jongho, I am so going to ruin you," Seonghwa growled, spitting on his middle finger again and then slowly pushing it in.

Jongho whined and arched his back to get the uncomfortable feeling away, but it didn't work, so he just had to suck it up and bite his lip.

Seonghwa's fingers pulled a lewd sound out of Jongho as he pushed the fingers in and pulled out, controlling them by twisting his wrist and slowly opening them to scissor. He was definitely searching for Jongho's prostate, which he kind of did not want him to find, not if it felt as good as the book had described.

Jongho let out a high-pitched moan when Seonghwa's long fingers found it, and began massaging it, not giving Jongho any other help.

"Push your ass back and fuck my fingers," Seonghwa commanded, and he didn't even have to ask twice, because Jongho began pushing his ass back. Slowly a third finger was also pushed in.

"Your ass takes my fingers so well, it looks so delicious. Can't wait to have my cock inside you so I can ruin your pretty little hole and torture you until your nerves are on fire." 

Jongho mewled at the dirty talk and pushed back more, the fingers sliding easily in and out. His cock brushed against the grass and Jongho began to feel the blood rushing to his head, he began to feel the warmth in his lower abdomen, he began to whine like a dog and he was about to cum—

"I don't think you can cum now either." Seonghwa said, stopping his fingers completely.

Jongho almost started crying. He had to hold his tears back and remind himself that he wasn't a child, but god it hurt so good but so bad. He just wanted to cum.

"Seonghwa!" Jongho whined, squeezing the grass in his hand again.

"Want my cock?" Was the answer Seonghwa gave, rolling Jongho over so he was on his back.

"Yes! Please give me your cock," Jongho begged, eyes moist with tears and chest heaving.

Seonghwa just smirked and spat on his hand once again, massaging the saliva on his cock before picking up Jongho's right leg again. He pressed a few kisses on the sensitive skin of Jongho's thigh, and enjoyed as Jongho moaned rather quietly compared to the ones he had let out before.

Seonghwa positioned himself to Jongho's hole, and the receiving one couldn't help but feel nervous. Seonghwa's cock was much more than three fingers, but he was still looking forward to it. 

Seonghwa however, did not want to give Jongho what he wanted. He just began massaging the tip of his cock against the skin beside Jongho's hole lewdly, letting out low groans and sounds, making Jongho blush but whine again. 

"Seonghwa! Please, god, please just give me your cock. I'm going crazy!" He begged.

"Your words are my law, Your Highness." Seonghwa answered and finally began pushing in.

Jongho gasped and his eyes rolled to the back of his head for a second, the burning sensation clouding all of his senses for a while. He could feel the cock going deeper and deeper, he could feel the tearing apart feeling.

Jongho felt like the cock was inside his stomach, but only the thought of him being full of Seonghwa's cock was more than enough to make him forget everything else.

"Look at you, so full of me. Who would've thought your last night as a single man ended like this? Fucked into obliviousness."

"Just fuck me already, you're all talk no actions," Jongho hissed back.

Seonghwa chuckled, but first pulled completely out very, very slowly, and then pushed in just as slowly, making Jongho feel like the wind had been knocked out of him. His breathing hitched as Seonghwa squeezed his thigh more and pulled Jongho closer, the cock going deeper in than it had done before.

Jongho had to focus on how to breathe with something like that inside him. Every single time Seonghwa pulled out and pushed in languidly and lazily, his eyes either rolled back or closed, brains fogging up with pleasure. It didn't burn anymore. It just felt good. Seonghwa concentrated more on giving him intense thrusts than fucking him fast. 

Seonghwa thrusted in a tiny bit faster now, his cock rubbing against Jongho's walls deliciously as his eyes ate Jongho up.

Jongho was on the verge of not being able to control his moans anymore. He had done it for the sake of them both, but Seonghwa's deep and intense thrusts just made him mewl like a cat.

"Ah, Seonghwa, please faster," Jongho begged.

And Seonghwa complied.

His thrusts became faster and rougher, and he began letting out growls. The low groans had been quiet before this, but now Seonghwa growled, squeezing Jongho's leg and waist so hard that it would leave pretty bruises. 

Jongho's hole took it all, his body rocking with the powerful thrusts. The sounds he let out were needy and whiny, higher than what he had ever let out if he wasn't singing.

The cool wind tried to drown out the sound of skin slapping against skin, but it was louder. It was dangerously loud, and so was Jongho. Now that he was getting closer to the edge again, he was becoming very vocal.

The man and cock he had thought about was now inside him, thrusting and growling. 

"Feel like mine yet?" Seonghwa asked through his gritted together teeth while pounding into Jongho's ass, earning yet another whine from him.

"God, yes I do, yours," Jongho answered, slurring his words a bit. He arched his back as Seonghwa dragged the tip of his cock against his walls a different way, tears moistening up his eyes.

"Your cute little cock is pretty red and angry. Are you going to cum?" 

Jongho wailed.  
"Please. Please let me cum."

"Of course, little prince, cum while being full of my cock."

Jongho moaned Seonghwa's name loudly and accidentally tore more grass so he could hold onto something. His mind was really starting to betray him, and at this point, it wasn't even weird.

Jongho cummed with a very loud, high-pitched moan and scream. His whole body spasmed as his cock spurted white, hot semen on his own stomach.

Seonghwa growled and fucked him faster, pushing in and pulling out mercilessly until he pulled out and grabbed Jongho's waist, lifting him up. He himself kneeled on the ground with his legs wide open.

Jongho's hand came to squeeze Seonghwa's shoulder as he slid down back on the cock, a lewd, lewd moan leaving his mouth and head dropping freely down.

"Seonghwa..." Jongho moaned, feeling breathless.

"Yes, little prince?" Seonghwa asked, pushing Jongho a bit down to make sure he really was buried completely inside the smaller man.

"Ruin me so I can't walk down the aisle tomorrow."

Seonghwa let out a small growl and bit his lower lip to keep himself from cumming.

Jongho squeezed Seonghwa's shoulder harder when the older man lowered himself until his butt touched his heels before rising back up, his cock slamming inside Jongho. The said prince couldn't help but let out a cry of pleasure.

"Shh, you should be a bit quieter if we don't want to be caught," Seonghwa said lowly, repeating the motion all the time now and earning a lewd moans from Jongho.

Seonghwa lifted Jongho a bit up so he could thrust even deeper, but as his arms began to feel like giving out and the feeling of wanting to release his semen became almost too much to handle, he wanted to change positions.

He wanted to ruin Jongho's cute little hole so that it was all red and puffy, oversensitive and sore. He wanted to make Jongho cry from pleasure.

He pushed Jongho back to the ground and climbed on top of him, his hands holding him up while he pushed in again. 

Seonghwa didn't try to save any energy or make it more comfortable for Jongho, because this was what they both wanted. If this truly was their last moment like this, he wanted at least leave some kind of feeling, even if it was pain in Jongho's ass.

Seonghwa began thrusting and hammering in as hard as he could. He was barely holding back from exploding, but who could blame him? The second prince of Jamjari, Choi Jongho, was naked under him, beautiful, slightly tanned skin glistening with sweat and those strong vocal chords letting out the most beautiful sounds. Anyone would've killed to be in his situation. He knew both men and women desired Jongho's slender and beautiful body, at least in the North. And getting those sounds out of Jongho, that, that right there, was a gift from heaven.

Jongho's hands were squeezed into tight fists, eyes closed shut, eyebrows furrowed and mouth open, some saliva dripping down his chin. 

Seonghwa watched how Jongho's body took his absolutely merciless and rough thrusts, how his body rocked with every single push Seonghwa did, how his back arched when Seonghwa's cock brushed his prostate.

Seonghwa saw tears leave Jongho's now open eyes, he heard how yet another beautiful needy but satisfied sound filled the garden.

Jongho had arrived at the gates of Heaven, just like Seonghwa had promised.

Jongho's brains were clouded with heavy feeling of pleasure, almost too much of it, and he couldn't really think straight. 

All Jongho could do was to take the cock, take the thrusts he never wanted to end. All he could do was to cry in pleasure and squirm, feeling like cumming again.

Jongho heard a very loud groan and a growl, and he felt something sticky and hot getting pumped inside him. He saw Seonghwa's hands beside his body tremble, and he knew the older male was exhausted, but still Seonghwa took the last crumbs of his energy and rolled them over so Jongho was on top of him.

"Come on. Cum for me, little prince. Rut against my stomach." 

And Jongho did.

He began rutting his cock against Seonghwa's lower abdomen, whining like a dog in heat. The cock moved inside him, and the dripping cum made it a bit slippery, but Jongho found a perfect pace where Seonghwa's cock rubbed just the right places.

Seonghwa's hand tucked Jongho's sweaty and messed up hair, making Jongho wail and cum. He flopped on top of Seonghwa, heaving and wheezing for air, feeling entirely spent, like nothing was left.

They both lied there, out of breath, just enjoying the cool breeze of the wind and just generally each other's presence.

"Holy mother of god..." Jongho muttered, lifting his head up to look at Seonghwa.

Seonghwa smiled at him and ran his hand through Jongho's hair.  
"Do you now know what you've been missing by not understanding my hints?" Seonghwa asked, smiling.

And by not understanding his nightmares.

"I do. I don't think anything else can give pleasure like this." Jongho answered.

"Nothing is better than good sex. I have unfortunately never had the chance to have sex with a man, even if that's the only kind of sex I want to have, so I'm glad I could try it out with you." Seonghwa smiled, carefully sitting up, Jongho doing it as well. He was so out of energy.

"Do you think someone heard us?" Jongho asked, and Seonghwa shook his head.

"I don't think so, even if you were so loud. We are fairly far away from the castle, and there's no one outside. So don't worry."

Jongho nodded, and pushed Seonghwa back down to the grass, kissing him shortly again. 

"I've seen you in my dreams." Jongho said.

"Really? Wet dreams?" Seonghwa asked, teasing him.

"No, nightmares. You have been there to protect me from three men. One of them is a fortune teller, and he told our future." Jongho explained, hand searching for Seonghwa's.

Seonghwa's brows furrowed.  
"Wait, really? Because I have seen some really messy dreams too. All I remember is that I have been hugging someone from behind, and the person has been screaming and crying." 

Jongho blinked.  
"That's- That's me. Someone has been hugging me from behind."

Seonghwa was quiet for a while, but then he chuckled.  
"Well, looks like we were destined to be together."

Jongho didn't answer, but buried his face in the crook of Seonghwa's neck, squeezing him better.

Seonghwa really had been the one protecting him.

They stayed outside, in that place, for the whole night, kissing and staring at each other, trying to press the small details into their heads so they would never forget this night. So Jongho would never forget how Seonghwa looked like this, so Seonghwa would never forget how Jongho looked like this.

—

Jongho's hands trembled when he lifted them up again. His whole body was trembling like a leaf, and he made sure the knot on his hanbok was tied up properly. He was dressed in a bright blue hanbok with black decorations since he was the groom. Sunhwa probably had a red hanbok, but she was still in her room getting ready.

The clock was about to strike twelve any moment now, and that's when their wedding began.

Jongho's heart beat way too fast to be normal. He was going crazy any second now, anxious thoughts filled his mind and made focusing harder.

Sunhwa finally walked down the hallway to him, looking like a beautiful flower. The dots on each of her cheeks (they were to ward off evil spirits) made her look cute, like she was blushing.

Jongho smiled weakly at her. Sunhwa just gave Jongho's shoulder a pat and stood next to him, ready to walk down the hallway and to the doors soon.

Some people were still on their way to the Great hall, but who stood out was a servant who was running towards them.

"Your Highnesses! Your Highnesses!"

Jongho glanced at Sunhwa, who just smiled at the servant as a permission to speak.

"His Majesty has made the decision to retire! You are to be crowned in this ceremony!"

Jongho felt his heart stop.

There was no way he could become a king now. It had supposed to happen after many years! He was nowhere near a king yet, he still had so much to learn.

Jongho began to feel dizzy and nauseous. He could barely focus on anything going on around him. All he could think about was the panick running through his veins, he would be king in an hour!

The world began to sway a little. Jongho tried to blink rapidly to see better, but everything got blurry.

He was going to faint. Right before the wedding ceremony.

However, someone planted their hands on his waist tightly, and held him up. Jongho leaned against someone's chest, and began hear faint speaking.

"All good, all good, Prince Jongho. Stay here, blink. The ceremony's about to start." 

Seonghwa.

Jongho just nodded, holding onto consciousness like his life depended on it. One moment he felt like giving up, but now that he didn't need to stand on his own, his eyes began to clear up again.

"Are you okay?" Seonghwa asked, distancing himself from Jongho's back and coming to stand in front of him, hands still on his waist.

"Yeah. I just got very shocked."

Seonghwa nodded, looking at Jongho fondly. He, Seonghwa and Sunhwa were the only ones in the hallway now.

"Are you ready for this?" Seonghwa asked.

Jongho didn't answer immediately, but nodded firmly. He was.  
"Yeah. Go, otherwise you don't get to see it." 

Seonghwa smiled longingly and let go of his waist, turning around and walking down to the Great hall. The black hanbok looked great on him, good enough to have Jongho salivating.

Jongho glanced at Sunhwa, who smiled at him.  
"Shall we go?"

"Let's go."

They walked down the hallway together, both silent and serious again. 

This was it. The rest of Jongho's life was decided by this ceremony.

The doors to the great hall opened, and hundreds pairs of eyes were on them immediately. Jongho gulped and forced his trembling legs to move forward.

He saw Junhong and his father in the corner of his eye, but he couldn't even look at them. His chest felt tight with anxiety, and Jongho had to fight to keep himself composed.

The master of the ceremony was waiting for them at the ceremony table, the cups of wine standing ready to be drank to seal their vows.

Jongho and Sunhwa stopped and bowed a bit.

The master started:  
"Crown Princess Han Sunhwa of Haegol. You are becoming the wife of Prince Choi Jongho of Jamjari. Do you promise to love Choi Jongho and respect him, take care of him, help him, in joyful times and in hard times, healthy times and sickness times, every day, forever?"

"Yes, I promise." Sunhwa answered without hesitation.

Jongho gulped. The moment was now. He felt so conflicted, this would seal his future. 

"Prince Choi Jongho of Jamjari. You are becoming the husband of Crown Princess Han Sunhwa of Haegol. Do you promise to love Han Sunhwa and respect her, take care of her, help her, in joyful times and in hard times, healthy times and sickness times, every day, forever?"

Silence filled the room. Jongho was sure his heart beat so fast that everyone could hear it in the hall.

They were waiting for him. They were waiting for him to say those three little words.

But he couldn't. He just couldn't.

"I am terribly sorry, but I can't." 

The whole hall gasped, then it fell silent again. Jongho could feel all eyes on him, so he turned around to face the people.

"I can not promise any of those. If I answered yes, that would already be disrespecting Sunhwa."  
Jongho started.

"Sunhwa is the kindest, most beautiful woman in this world, and she deserves only the best. I can't give it to her, because I love another human."

The people in the hall gasped again. Jongho saw Kyungsam standing up, his cold eyes on Jongho. He was gritting his teeth together. But Jongho didn't care.

It was now or never.

"I am in love with a man, so if I promised to love Sunhwa, I would be lying. I am the prince of Jamjari, but I like men."

Jongho's eyes watered. He could feel just how tensed the air inside the hall was, so he turned to face Sunhwa.

"The only person I'm apologizing about this to is Sunhwa. I am terribly sorry, I truly am, but I can't promise those things to you. You deserve to have a groom who can truly love you." 

Sunhwa smiled and nodded, taking a hold of Jongho's hands and pressing a kiss on his knuckles.

"It's okay. I know, I understand, and I want you and him to be happy."

A few tears ran down Jongho's cheeks, and he finally turned around to face the people again. Kyungsam's hand was on his waist, resting on top of his sword.

"I understand what this is going to do to my kingdom. I truly do, and for that reason, I'm officially giving away my title as a prince." Jongho finished, glancing to his left, where a man stood up and walked towards him.

Seonghwa walked through the crowd with determined eyes, and finally stopped next to Jongho.

"I am the man he loves, and he is the man I love. I am the crown prince of Seori, and I am officially giving away my title as the crown prince and a future king as well."

Jongho grabbed his hair, and pulled off the wig. He saw Seonghwa do the same.

It felt like time was frozen. The men and women Jongho could see were all looking thunderstruck, staring at the two of them.

Early in the morning, Jongho and Seonghwa had snuck inside. Jongho had cut their hair, as that was the thing that made them royals. Now they both had short hair, the fringes curling beautifully on their foreheads. They had put on wigs and pretended that they were their real hair.

"I believe that love has no gender. If someone is against us, they can keep their opinions to themselves." Jongho announced, his hand touching Seonghwa's, and they finally interwened their fingers.

The hall was eerily quiet. No one dared to say anything, so Jongho pulled Seonghwa with him, and began running out. They had horses ready outside, bags were packed and attached to the saddles.

Seonghwa and Jongho ran, glancing back every once in a while to make sure they weren't followed. Seonghwa had memorized the quickest way out, and when they saw the doors out, Jongho dared to smile.

They made it out, and Jongho began to see their horses. They picked up their pace and ran faster. If Kyungsam was after them, they would need to be fast.

"JONGHO! SEONGHWA!"

Jongho didn't even have time to try to recognize who it was, because he saw that three persons were running towards them fast. 

Seonghwa and him both started untying their horses with trembling hands, but Jongho's was on a tight knot. He cursed out loud and pulled and twisted, trying to untie it, but it was too tight. Seonghwa was already waiting for him.

The three humans were coming closer. Too close.

Jongho began to panick. The knot wouldn't open.

"Hurry up, baby," Seonghwa said, a clear strain in his voice.

Jongho finally managed to untie it and heaved himself up, ready to take off, but that's when a hand grabbed his reins.

Jongho and Seonghwa froze. Junhong was holding Jongho's reins, Sangwook and Jongho's father coming after him.

"Please. Wait a second. Just a second, okay?" Junhong asked, and Jongho glanced at Seonghwa who was ready to pull his sword out, but nodded.

Sangwook and Jongho's father stopped beside Junhong, wheezing.

"Thank you for waiting. We're not here to kill you." Sangwook started.

Seonghwa smacked his lips so his horse moved and was now right beside Jongho's.

"Seonghwa, you are my only son. Our only prince, Seori's future. Your mama is slowly dying away." Sangwook continued, and Jongho saw Seonghwa gritting his teeth together at the mention of his mom.

"You're all we have. Seori needs you. Please, no one is angry at you, atleast we aren't. No one is disgusted. We, your mother and I, need you. Our kingdom needs you. Please, Seonghwa."

Jongho was surprised. He hadn't expected this to go like this at all. He had expected insults and a fight, but instead, they were accepted.

"Jongho, you heard him too. Father has already lost mom, just like you and I. We can't handle losing another one. Don't leave. Please." Junhong said, looking at Jongho with pleading eyes.

"I'm sorry, but you know how people are going to react." Jongho answered.

"Why do you care about the people? Don't you think our opinion is more important than theirs? Times need to change Jongho, loving a man shouldn't be a sin anymore." Jongho's father said, shocking Jongho.

What was going on?

"Seori needs Seonghwa, and Jamjari you." Junhong continued.

"That's the problem. Different kingdoms need us, but we want to be together." Seonghwa answered.

They all fell silent. Jongho tried to look for a way out of the situation, but Junhong still held his reins.

"Why don't you marry Seonghwa then? You two can be Seori's kings." Junhong suggested.

Jongho's neck almost snapped at the speed he turned to look at Junhong. Had he just said that?

"Yes! That would work, wouldn't it?" Sangwook said, smiling a bit. He looked so hopeful.

Jongho gulped and turned to look at Seonghwa, who looked at him. Jongho reached out for his hand, and held it.

"You really promise? That we can get married and rule Seori?" Seonghwa asked.

The three of them nodded.  
"Anything is better than the two of you leaving us completely."

"What do you say, Jongho?" Seonghwa asked, a small smile rising to his face.  
"Should we get married and have our own kingdom?"

A smile rose on Jongho's face.  
"I think we should."

—

Epilogue

"Prince Choi Jongho of Jamjari. You are becoming the husband of Crown Prince Park Seonghwa of Seori. Do you promise to love Park Seonghwa and respect him, take care of him, help him, in joyful times and in hard times, healthy times and sickness times, every day, forever?"

"Yes, I promise." Jongho answered without hesitation. He smiled at Seonghwa.

"Crown Prince Park Seonghwa of Seori. You are becoming the husband of Prince Choi Jongho of Jamjari. Do you promise to love Choi Jongho and respect him, take care of him, help him, in joyful times and in hard times, healthy times and sickness times, every day, forever?"

"Yes, I promise." Seonghwa answered, and they grabbed the glasses of wine, clinked them against each other's and drank down the wine.

"Kneel, and read the oath." The master continued.

Jongho and Seonghwa kneeled, and read the oaths to take the crown.

Jongho was trembling. That's how happy he was. People had come all the way from Jamjari to see Jongho getting married, and the citizens of Seori were there as well.

Sangwook touched their shoulders with the sword and muttered some words before finally taking off his own crown, and placing it on Seonghwa's head.

Jongho felt his own crown being put on top of his head too, and finally they stood up.

"May I present you, Park Seonghwa and Park Jongho, the kings of Seori."

Jongho's waist was grabbed by Seonghwa, who pulled him in for a kiss. Jongho giggled and answered, eyes moist with tears. 

Seonghwa's eyes were also full of tears, and he stared at Jongho like he was the most precious thing ever.

"I love you." Seonghwa whispered.

"I love you too. Thank you for fighting with me."  
Jongho answered, and kissed Seonghwa again, the wedding guests clapping and cheering for them.

Junhong and Jongho's father were both crying, Sunhwa too, who had traveled to Seori as well to see the wedding.

"GO MY LITTLE BROTHER!" Junhong yelled through his tears, which made Jongho laugh.

Seonghwa turned to look at Junhong, and then kissed Jongho on his cheek just to show his new friend how he handled Jongho.

Then he turned to look at Jongho again.

"It's the beginning of our life, Jongho. Let's enjoy it to the fullest in our own kingdom." Seonghwa said, and kissed Jongho's cheek again.

"Our own kingdom." Jongho repeated.

A few months later, in the evening, Jongho was just in their room reading when he turned to look out of the window. He saw something white falling down from the sky.

"Babe?" He yelled, looking around for Seonghwa.

"Yeah?" Came Seonghwa's yell. He was somewhere near their bedroom, atleast it sounded like that.

"How long has it been snowing?"

"As long as you have been glueing your pretty nose on the book," Seonghwa answered, his voice getting closer.

It was the first time Jongho saw snow. His first winter in Seori.

"Is there a lot of snow outside?" Jongho asked, putting the book away and standing up.

"Yeah, about half a meter? How so?"

That was enough for Jongho, and he sprinted out. 

"CHOI- NO, PARK JONGHO! YOU'RE NOT GOING OUTSIDE WITHOUT PROPER CLOTHES!" Came Seonghwa's thunder-like yell from somewhere, but Jongho didn't care.

He ran through the beautiful hallways of Seori's castle all the way out, where he saw a lot of snow.

Jongho's eyes probably sparkled, even if the cold air bit his skin through the very thin hanbok he wore.

Jongho began catching the snowflakes with his tongue before taking some of the snow from the ground to his hands — even if it froze them completely — and smiled hard.

He ran around the garden, not caring of his cold legs. He just enjoyed the snow and the cold. It looked so beautiful.

Jongho was about to lay down to the ground so he could roll in the snow when a pair or arms grabbed his waist.

"Park Jongho." Seonghwa growled right into Jongho's ear.

Jongho squealed and tried to get away.  
"Look! It's snow!"

"Are you ignoring me?" Seonghwa said again, and pulled Jongho closer to him.

"No, but it's snow!" Jongho said again.

"You didn't put clothes on. That's what bad boys do. And what do bad boys get? They get a punishment."

Jongho managed to get off, and he began running away from Seonghwa while laughing.

"PARK JONGHO!"

Jongho absolutely loved when Seonghwa yelled his name like that. He loved to tease Seonghwa like this.

He was lifted off the ground and thrown over Seonghwa's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and Seonghwa began walking inside despite Jongho's complaints.

As soon as the warm air engulfed Jongho's body, he realised how cold he was. It felt as if someone was pinching him.

Seonghwa threw him on the bed to his stomach, and slapped Jongho's right asscheek so hard that Jongho let out a cry before laughing again, Seonghwa's hands kneading the same asscheek like dough.

"You're all frozen," Seonghwa growled, slapping the cheek again.

Jongho couldn't stop laughing. Seonghwa was absolutely the best.

"I think I need to warm you up natural ways. I'm fucking you for the whole night until you can't even feel your ass anymore." Seonghwa said, rolling Jongho over to kiss him.

"I thought you talked about a punishment? That's a reward," Jongho smirked.

"Oh you little thing, you have absolutely no idea what I can do," Seonghwa said, his eyes dark and dangerous.

Jongho blushed and giggled again.  
"Oh, I'm so scared."

"You're not being sarcastic after I'm done edging you." Seonghwa growled.

That made Jongho's smile fall.  
"You won't edge me!"

"Oh, you and I both know I will. Take your punishment like a good boy." Seonghwa teased.

Needless to say, Jongho cried many times that night, but of pleasure and of happiness. Seonghwa didn't edge him, he made love with him.

Jongho loved every single second of it, and of the time he and Seonghwa spent together. He loved Seonghwa so, so much, that it almost hurt.

Their hair never got long again, and that signified their uniqueness.

King Junhong of Jamjari got married to a nice lady. Queen Sunhwa ruled Haegol on her own — just like she had always wanted. Sangwook and Jongho's father spent their time together, fishing and hiking, and just enjoying their retirement.

Jongho and Seonghwa ruled Seori together, as the only public male couple.

Sinning had never felt that good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> So, it’s done. This one is done too. How does time fly like this? It feels like it hasn’t been that long since I began publishing this, but here we are.
> 
> Wow. 
> 
> The process of writing was slow and hard, it made me lose my motivation, but luckily I was able to finish this. Jonghwa as princes makes me drool hahah. I really enjoyed writing this story though, it took me back in time. I hope you guys liked it🥺❤️❤️
> 
> I wanted to give this a proper happy ending, so I made their families and people accepting. I would never want to hurt myself, and you guys as well as the Jongho and Seonghwa in this story by making their families hate them. Never.
> 
> So! The next jonghwa! I bet some of y’all were waiting for this announcement as much as I was:
> 
> The next one is almost done. I’m in the last chapter, it only lacks about 5-8k words. The concept is super nice, I really love the story! It’s about two men, who fall in love in the middle of the second world war. The catch? They’re from different sides. Yes, we’re going back to Korea’s war with Jongho’s and Seonghwa’s sweet love story, which is written with a quite interesting way. I’m excited. 12th or 19th of december, and it’ll be out.
> 
> Thank you SOOOO much for your support. Thank you for reading this. I love you all! See you in the next jonghwa!
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/cloudyjjongie?s=21) and [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/Cloudyjongho)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading!
> 
> This story took ages to write but here it is, finally ready! I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> [my twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/ramenofwonho)
> 
> [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/ramenofwonho)


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